Yesteryears
by RGZ Archer
Summary: What happened before the Nightmare of Messa? This is a collection of one shots and stories from Kai's past before the Broken Wing.
1. Chapter 1

Yesteryears

Terror of the Seven Sky's! The Most Difficult Mission Part I

AN: Hello! Thank for reading chapter one of Yesteryears. I was going to post this as the next chapter of Broken Wing, but I decided that it didn't fit with the overall theme. Broken Wing will from now on take place slightly before the series, during the series, or several years after the series. Yesteryears will be entirely dedicated to Kai's past, before the event that caused Broken Wing. Now, this chapter's title might be a bit dark, but once you get a few paragraphs into it you'll understand. This chapter is going to take place six years before the first episode of the show, so Kai will be about twelve. Starling and the rest of the Interceptors will be between seventeen and twenty, since I'm sure that Starling was not the oldest of the squadron (same as Aerrow not being the oldest of the Storm Hawks, Stork is actually nine years older.) Also look forward to seeing some familiar faces this chapter; I hope that I can pull them off. Please enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do Not own Storm Hawks, and never will. If I did I wouldn't be writing FANfiction. They are the property of Asaph "Ace" Fipke and made by Nerd Corps Entertainment, also I don't own A&W, however I DO own Kai, the Shadow crystal and this story.

"Speech"

"_Thought"_

_Sound_

"Ugh." Kai rolled over to try and hide from the light that was shining through his window. _"Why, why oh why did I take the one room that had a window facing the East?"_ After a few minutes passed he finally managed to pull himself up and out of his bunk bed. The only reason he had the thing was he had bought it, dragged it, and assembled it by himself. He could have had a normal bed, but he preferred to be off the ground when he slept. After a few stretches he made his way to the showers to get ready for the day. He was vaguely able to recall that today was important, but the haze of having just woken up made it impossible to remember why.

A while later, he emerged fully awake and ran to the kitchen. _"I wonder what they guys made for breakfast this morning!"_ When he reached the kitchen he was surprised to find it completely empty. "Huh what's going on?" He took a deep breath and was about to shout when a slender arm made its way around his neck and a second around his arms, placing him into a headlock.

"Ok brat, where are they hiding?" Came a menacing voice from behind.

Twisting his head as far around as he could, Kai was able to make out a few strands of purple hair and the corner of a green eye. "Starling? What are you talking about? Where are the guys? And more importantly where's breakfast?" Kai asked in a confused tone.

"Ughhh! I can't believe they did this to me, the least they could have done is taken me with them." The arms released their hold as Starling, seventeen year old Sky Knight, and flight lead of the Interceptors dragged herself over the large couch in the center of the living room. After setting down she covered her face with her hands and let out a long groan. "This is not fair. I told them that they would be needed here today and not to run off."

Kai made his way over to the couch. "What's wrong? Where are the guys?" He asked. It was unusual for the others to just up and leave in the middle of the night. _"In fact I don't even remember hearing them take off last night. They must have walked their skimmers a good little ways before taking off. What's going on?"_

Kai might have been twelve years old, but he was very smart for a kid. Thanks to living with the Interceptors, he had already learned more than most people his age could even dream of. From weapons training, to skimmer repair. He trained alongside them, and helped whenever he could. Though he had not yet been with them out on any missions. He had become the team's unofficial mascot. And though his mother didn't want him to be anywhere near anything that had to do with the currently cold war, she knew that he would never leave the people he had grown up with. Sure they were nearly twice his age, but they were the only friends he had. So while she had packed up and moved to Terra Atmosia, Kai had chosen to stay behind. The Interceptors were reluctant to let a child stay with them, but he was able to win them over, mostly through a combination of offering to be a maid for free, and the fact he had enough blackmail over all five of them to use on their grandchildren.

Starling looked up through the gaps in between her fingers and let out a sigh. "The guys are gone Kai, they left me here to fend for myself it seems. Who knows where they are, and right now that doesn't really matter. What does matter is the fact that I am in very big trouble." Starling's shoulders were slumped, even though the day had only just started, she looked utterly defeated.

"Can I help? I mean there must be something that I can do." The little boy knew that it must be something major to have her in such a low mood.

Reaching out she ruffled the boy's hair before standing. "Honestly, I don't know." With that she walked back into the kitchen and pulled out two bowls and a box of cereal. "Breakfast?" She said shaking the box in one hand.

"They didn't leave us anything? Can't you cook som…..never mind, cereal it is." Kai sweat dropped at the memory of last time Starling attempted to cook, it was one of the reasons they had new furniture for most of the HQ. _"She can do a lot of things." _Kai remembered that day all too well. _"Include make water burn, toast turn into napalm and make milk into jet fuel."_ The two ate there bowls of cereal in near silence, until Kai could no longer take it. "Starling what's going on? Why are you so upset?"

Starling thought for a few moments before speaking. "Today we will have several visitors, do you remember Aerrow? His father was…" Starling didn't want to finish the sentence.

"Aerrow, red hair, kinda moody? Yeah I remember him, what about him?" His expression was somewhat sour. He understood that the poor boy had a rough life, but he didn't like his attitude. It was like he didn't care about anything anymore.

"Well he will be staying here with us today, along with several other children from terra Lyn. Aerrow has been living there for some time now, but their squadron has an important mission today, and since we are the neighboring terra." She left the sentence hanging, but Kai got the point.

"You got stuck with baby setting duty." Kai finished. "Well it can't be too bad, I mean what's the worst that can happen?" He asked.

"What's the worst that can happen? This could be a very large mark against the Interceptors. If we, err I mess this up, ugh you have to realize how important Aerrow is. His father was the flight lead of the Storm Hawks, the undisputed king of the skies, and the greatest Sky Knight to have ever lived. His son has the potential to exceed him, but so far he hasn't shown the slightest hint of even caring about what happens in the future. That's why they are taking him to all the different Terra's, to try and motivate him."

"But if he doesn't want to fight, he shouldn't. Isn't that what you taught me?" The boy asked slightly confused.

"It is true that if a person has no desire to fight, they will do so only half heartedly and thus poorly. Which is a very bad thing. But the Sky council won't force him to fight, their trying to motivate him, so he will want to fight." Starling hoped that the boy would accept her response and not notice the crack in it.

"You mean their trying to make fighting look appealing to a six year old whose daddy was killed by a man who he once considered to be a brother? Oh I'm sure that will turn out well." Kai replied in a sarcastic tone.

"_Dang, he caught it."_ "I know it sounds bad, but if there is a war, people like him will be needed. People who have the natural born gift. I taught you that, you know full well that numbers only play a small part in fighting, quality over quantity, whichever side has the most Aces has a better chance at winning."

It was then that Kai remembered something. "Wait a minute, did you say he was coming from terra _Lyn_. As in The Terra Lyn?" Kai's voice quivered.

"Yes, that terra Lyn." Starling's shoulders sagged even further. "And before you even ask it, yes HE is coming as well."

Kai's eyes became as wide as dinner plates and his jaw hit the ground. "Um say nice weather, could I borrow the Red Streak? I just remembered that I had something to do somewhere……….not here." Kai ran for the hanger only to become quickly acquainted with the floor. "Ouf!" Struggling to catch his breath Kai tried to get up and make another run for it, but noticed the he was now quite a bit heavier than normal. Looking over his shoulder he saw that Starling had tackled him to the ground.

"Oh no you don't. You're going to help me whether you want to or not. I might have baby set you in the past, but you were just one kid, and you were mostly tame. I need help and you're going to be that help understood?" Her tone might have been firm, but Kai could see the fear in the back of her eyes.

"No way! He's a monster; I know he was sent here by the Cyclonian's to destroy us from the inside, I just haven't been able to prove it yet! There is nothing you can do or say to make me even be on the same Terra as him, much less the same building, and in his range." Normally Kai loved to help his friends, he was a nice kid, and more that he was brave, but nice and brave did not mean stupid and suicidal.

"Please? I tell you what; if you help me I'll make it worth your while. Name your price." Starling, like Kai knew what was coming, she had no chance of escaping, but he was not under her command, he wasn't even a soldier, so she couldn't pull rank and order him. She knew that her only chance was bribery.

"Name my price? Hmm there isn't anything I really want…I mean you guys are already teaching me, and giving me a place to stay. Besides, I like my head where it is, firmly resting on top of my neck between my shoulders. Sorry." Kai headed towards the hanger.

_Sigh_

"That's alright; I'm sure that I'll pull through this somehow, even if it is alone, without a single friend or ally." Starling pulled herself up and walked back towards the living room.

"_Don't give in, don't give in, don't give in, come on man be strong, you know she'll be ok."_ That's when several memories sifted through his field of vision, disaster zones, piles of rubble, and collapsed buildings. _"Dang, I can't do it; I just can't do that to her."_ "Hey Star! I'll stay." Looking up he gave a wiry grin. "I don't think I could handle your death on my head, it's hard enough to sleep at night now."

Starling disappeared, she was there one minute, and gone the next, she just vanished. Next thing he knew Kai felt two arms envelop him in a tight hug. "Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you. I promise that I won't forget this. I will make it up to you." _"Like shooting skyfish in a barrel, it still works on him, even after seven years."_ Releasing the boy Starling ran to the kitchen.

"_AHHHH I FELL FOR IT AGAIN!"_ Kai smacked his head on the wall at his side. _"Why do I always fall for it?"_ Kai trudged towards the kitchen knowing that he had just signed his own death warrant.

"Ok let's see, there is plenty of food in here, I should be able to whip up something for lunch." As he entered, Kai could see Starling digging through the fridge. That's when he was hit with the same memories from breakfast.

_Flashback to six months ago_

The Interceptors stood around a small boy glaring down at him.

"What did you do!? We come down here and find the kitchen on fire! Do you have any idea how lucky you were that Starling was up and managed to grab the fire extinguisher?!" One of them shouted.

"How did you even manage to catch it on fire, it looked like you were making oatmeal, that stuffs not even flammable!" Another shouted.

"Actually it wasn't Kai, this time anyways. It was me. I was just trying to make you guys some breakfast, a reward for that mission last night." Starling's face was a light pink color, she knew she wasn't the best cook, but simple oatmeal should have been doable.

_Returning to normal time_

"Um Star, maybe you could just head up to A&W and get some Skydogs?" Kai was praying to whoever was listening that she would agree, he loved his home, and had no desire to see it burned to the ground by his best friends bad cooking.

"There's not enough time. They should be here in a few minutes, do you have any idea how bad it will look if they arrive and I'm missing along with the rest of the squadron?" Starling turned to look at her young ward.

"_Think Kai, come on think! If she cooks, we all might die!"_ "Don't worry about it, I'll cover it, just head up there grab a small party pack and high tail back."

"And what would you do if they arrived while I was gone? You think you can just lie to a representative of the Sky Council and get away with it?" Starling had crossed her arms and was leaning on the wall behind her.

"Hey I happen to have a very good poker face and you know it! Or have you forgotten how you and the guys banned me from your weekly game? Oh and by the way, you can tell the guys to stop digging through my stuff. If you and they want their stuff back you'll have to win it back." Kai said, his face settling into a smug grin.

"Ok ok, I'll go pick up some take out, just don't bring that up ever again." Starling grabbed her keys and left for the hanger. Kai couldn't help but notice that her face was burning red.

Kai did his best to make the place look clean, not that it was dirty or a mess, it just had the tell tale signs of people living in it. After a few minutes passed he heard the door bell. _"Crud their here! Ok don't panic, you can do this, it's just like poker, only no prizes and plenty of penalties."_ Kai walked towards the door and checked the view screen. Sure enough he saw a small group of people, mostly kids but there were two adults with them. _"Show time."_

The door opened and the group entered. Kai took the opportunity to give each one the once over. _"Ok first up, red messy hair, gloomy expression and giving off major negative vibes, this must be Aerrow. Up next we have a young girl, dark complexion, blue hair; she seems to be cheery but a bit nervous. She's probably never left her home terra before. Hmm this is strange, a Wallop. He seems to be older than the others, he could be my age, but it's hard to tell. He looks kinda shy, probably gets picked on a lot about those glasses."_ After looking over the kids Kai let out a sigh of relief. _"Thank Atmos the terror isn't with them."_

"Man this place is lame! They call this place HQ? It's smaller then my house!" A young blond kid stepped out from behind the two adults.

_Flush The cosmic toilet just flushed_

"_There goes my day, straight down the pot. Star, you had better be giving me hazard pay for this."_ Kai stepped forward and put on his best poker face. "Hello my names Kai. It's nice to meet you." Kai reached out his hand to the older of the two adults.

The old man looked down at Kai and glared. "Where are the Interceptors? They were ordered to be here, no excuses. And when we arrive their not even here, but some child is loitering around in a military compound. They can all expect demotions for this." The old man then turned to leave.

"_Eep not good. Come on you can do this."_ "Excuse me sir." The old man turned and glared at Kai. "Sir the Interceptors are here, just not right here at the moment." Kai knew he had to tell the truth, these old buzzards could tell an outright lie before you even said it.

"Oh then where are they? They had better have a good excuse for disobeying a direct order." The old man peered over the rim of his glasses. "And that still doesn't explain why you are here."

"Sir, most of the Interceptors are not here today, Starling is the only one present. The other four were not present when I woke up this morning. I thought I heard someone say something about a suspicious looking skimmer sighted near us. More than likely they went to investigate the report. After all we are close to the border, and anything that could be a threat has to be checked out. Starling is not here at the moment because we were down to E.M.R's and she did not believe that would be fitting for guest." Kai noted that when he said E.M.R's the second adult, (whom he recognized to be Carver of the Red Eagles) face scrunched in disgust.

"What are E.M.R's? The young Wallop asked.

"Emergency Merb Rations. It's Sky Knight code for Merb cabbage." Judging by the man's face, he, like every other non-Merb cared little for the vile green veggie.

"Is what you speak the truth." The old man asked.

"Sir, I swear, Starling went to get food, and I have no clue where the other Interceptors are, but I know for a fact that they would not have left their post without just cause. There have been a few sightings of unknown skimmers around us lately, and standard procedure would be to investigate any sightings." Kai knew he was safe. Everything he said was the truth, and nothing but the truth.

The old man regarded Kai for a moment. "That still does not explain who you are, or why you are here."

"_Ok how can I go about this, hmm ah." _"I'm an apprentice studying under the Interceptors." _"Well it's mostly true, I am studying under them."_

"And what might I ask are you apprenticing?" The old man was doing that glare over glasses rim thing again.

Kai swallowed before answering. "Mechanics sir, right now I'm being taught engine and drive train repair." _"Once again, it is true, the guys are teaching me mechanics, among other more….interesting things."_

The old man's eyes narrowed, and for a second Kai thought he was busted. "Ah my mistake, it's always good to see young people get started early in life." The old man smiled. It was at this time that a skimmer could be heard pulling into the hanger.

"_Ok Kai, time for the performance of a life time."_ Kai turned as soon as he saw Starling enter with the bags of food, which thankfully were unmarked. Running towards her he grabbed the bags and went towards the kitchen. "Ah welcome back Miss Starling, let me take care of those for you. The other bags are back in the hanger right?" Kai smiled as he went towards the hanger doors. Starling was puzzled for a moment.

"_Miss Starling? He never calls me by that. What's he up to?"_ As she stepped out, she saw the people waiting by the doorway. _"By the Oracle Stone! What did he tell them?"_ "Greetings sir, I apologize for my being absent, and for my squadron as well."

"It's not a problem; I was just having a nice little chat with your apprentice. I didn't catch his name though."

"_Apprentice? Oh I get it."_ "Yes sir, he is a good student, from what the others have told me he is almost finished with engine repairs. His name is Kai, he grew up here on terra Mesa." _"Smart boy, he must have told them he was apprenticing under us."_

"Kai eh, I look forward to seeing what becomes of him. Tell me, has there been anything unusual lately?" The old man's face was like stone.

"_Unusual? What on Atmos does he mean by that? The circus went by a few…days…ago." _"Erm yes sir, there were several rather odd skimmers that were sighted a few days ago." Starling was in her professional mode.

"How strange exactly?" He asked.

"I did not recognize the model type; I had never seen them before." _"Which is true, the circus uses custom skimmers, and they got new ones just last month."_

"Ah just wondering, the boy said there had been several sightings of strange skimmers. He also said that your squadron would not have left post without a good reason. Would you say that's true?"

Looking at the small group Starling focused on a familiar mop of blonde hair. "Sir I can honestly say, the only reason they would have left, is if they felt there was a threat of some sort. The fact that they did not awaken me leads me to believe that they went to make sure the threat was genuine, and if it was, they would want someone at HQ that could radio for help." _"Which is true, Kai knows our S.O.P. and combined with what he knew to be coming, managed to make a very convincing story, which is completely true. It just happens to be half truths. I wonder what he said was the reason for me to not be here."_

She then heard the hanger doors open and someone walk towards the kitchen, but their steps were slow, slow and heavy, almost like they were carrying something. "I'll go ahead and put up the grocery's ok?"

"_Clever boy." _She looked up to see the old man from the Sky Council looked surprised for a moment.

"Well, we will be on our way. You did receive the message regarding the change in plans correct?" The old man asked.

"Changes sir? No I did not receive any messages today, I left after waking up Kai, and the others were already gone, so they would not have been able to report anything to me."

"Ah well, young Aerrow and the other children will be staying overnight, we will be here to pick them up tomorrow morning."

Starling/Kai Shared Thought

"_THOSE RATS! THAT'S WHY THEY WERE MISSING THIS MORNING! WHEN THEY GET BACK HERE I'LL SKIN THEM ALIVE!"_

"Good day to you." As the old man left, Starling noticed Carver shooting her a sympathetic look.

Looking down, Starling saw what would prove to be her most difficult mission yet.

"Hey there hot stuff. My names Finn, nice to meet you."

End Chapter 1

AN: SO what did you think? You might have noticed that I have avoided using the names of the four deceased members of the Interceptors. This is for a very good reason. I don't know them. The Storm Hawks official site shows only their outlines. From those the only things I know for sure are, A. All four were male, B. All four were humanoid, C. They all used close range weapons like daggers and nun chucks, and D. They were all slim body styled. This has led me to believe that the Interceptors were all more or less Ninja type fighters like Starling, Aerrow, and Carver. This would make them close range fighters, and put them at a severe disadvantage against range fighters like the Raptors. Anyways, this mini arc will be one more chapter, then…who knows? Till next time Ja Ne!


	2. Chapter 2

Yesteryears

Chapter 2 Terror of the Seven Sky's! The Most Difficult Mission Part II

AN: Welcome to chapter two of Yesteryears. I thank you for reading this story, and hope you enjoy reading it as much as I have writing it. This chapter is going to be a mix. It will have a lot of humor in it. If you haven't figured it out yet, the terror of the seven sky's is Finn, and yes he will live up to that title. However, there will be some serious points in it. If you recall Aerrow, in this story, is not the same as the one from the show. That is because this chapter and the previous one take place six years before the series began. Now like I said this story will have humor, but it will also have some serious parts as well.

Disclaimer: I do Not own Storm Hawks, and never will. If I did, Kai would be in the show, Starling would have joined the Storm Hawks, and Stork would have his own show. They are the property of Asaph "Ace" Fipke and made by Nerd Corps Entertainment, however I DO own Kai, the Shadow crystal and this story.

"Speech"

"_Thought"_

_Sound_

Kai came back from the kitchen. Though he looked calm, Starling could see the barely contained rage behind his eyes. She knew that if they survived this, she was going to owe him big time.

"So what's your name hot stuff? Chica-cha." Both Kai and Starling turned to look at the blond horror that was now inside their home.

"_I knew it would be bad." _She looked at Kai out of the corner of her eye. _"But I never expected him to be that bad." _She could see Kai trying to keep himself from exploding. His breathing was getting faster and she could hear his teeth grinding. _"Ok time to defuse this problem." _"Ok let's go to the living room and introduce ourselves." Starling turned to go to the living room.

"We already know each other, and we already know who you are, so what's the point?" Starling turned back to see it was Aerrow that had spoken.

"Yes you know each other, and you know who I am, but we don't know any of you. _"Well that's not entirely true."_ Starling replied.

After a few moments the small group had seated themselves. "Ok since you are our guest, we will introduce ourselves first. My name is Starling and I am the Sky Knight for the Interceptors. I was knighted a week after my seventeenth birthday. My hobbies are training, reading and tinkering." When she finished she looked over at Kai.

He of course already knew all this, but when he caught sight of the look Starling was giving him, he raised an eyebrow. After a moment she nodded her head one time. _"Ok, looks like I can be as honest as I want." _"Alright, my name is Kai, and I'm twelve. I'm Starlings apprentice in training and have known her since I was five, along with the other members of the Interceptors. My hobbies are training, watching TV, playing video games, reading, and tinkering, usually with crystals." He turned and looked at the kids hoping one of them would continue.

"My name is Finn, I'm nine years old if anyone's interested." At this point the winked at Starling, who merely rolled her eyes. "My hobbies are target practice, hanging with Junko and Aerrow, working on my crossbow and hanging with the ladies."

"_That boy has a death wish, I swear, how on Atmos did I get stuck watching a nine year old Casanova?" _Starling shook her head and mentally sighed.

"_Hmm should I crush him under a skimmer? Nah to big a mess, oh I know! I push him off the side of the terra and let him fall into the wastelands!"_ Kai started to grin and rub his hands together; Starling recognizing the look smacked him on the back of the head and shot him a look that told him all he needed to know.

"_Don't even think about it."_

"Um I guess I'll go next. My name is Junko, I'm ten. My hobbies are reading, cooking and playing with my friends Finn and Aerrow." The Wallop nervously replied.

"Oh oh me next, me next! My name is Piper, and I'm eight. I like studying history, collecting crystals, refining crystals, and practicing Sky Fu with my grandfather. I'm new to Terra Lyn so I haven't had a chance to make any friends yet, it's a pleasure to meet you all." Kai liked this girl already, she was cheery and had many of the same interest he did, and she was polite to boot. Of the group, she seemed to be the most tolerable.

"My names Aerrow, I'm eight. I hang out with my friends and Radarr." The boy said in an almost monotone voice.

"Radarr? Who's Radarr?" As soon as Kai asked this he was hit upside the head with a blue blur. "AH GET IT OFF! WHATS GOING ON! GET THIS THING OFF OF ME!" Kai didn't know what was going on; one minute he was sitting there, the next he was attacked by a furry blue blur.

"Radarr, come here." Aerrow held out his hand. When Kai got up he saw a strange creature jump up Aerrow's arm and climb onto his back. "This is Radarr." Aerrow said pointing at the…thing on his back.

"Um excuse me but you said that you had food?" The group turned to see it was the Wallop that had spoken up.

"Yeah, we got food. You guys like Skydogs?" Kai asked with a smile.

"Skydogs? That's kinda lame isn't it? I mean we can get those on any terra." Finn said.

"Yeah, but does any Terra offer all you can eat?" Kai asked with an evil grin. _"If the reports on him are accurate, he'll go for food at the first chance he's given. He only has three weaknesses, and I hope foods the only one we have to use on him, cause there's no way I'm letting him anywhere near Star, and no force on Atmos will let me allow him to be in the same room as anything related to music."_

"Just one second. Kai would you show the others to the kitchen, I need to have a word with Finn here." Starling narrowed her eyes at the blond menace.

"Aerrow! Told you the ladies loved me. Chica-cha." Finn's hands were motioning a pair of pistols shooting.

"Actually far from it. Stand against the wall, facing it, and please place your hands above your head and keep your legs apart." Starling's voice left no room for question.

The boy complied and the others were surprised to see Starling pull out a portable metal detector. Starting above his head she moved the wand over his arms and down his back. Several minutes, and loud beeps later, the group found themselves gaping at the pile of metal strips, two pipes, and a piece of piano wire.

"What?" The young blond asked.

"Um Finn what is all this stuff?" Junko asked.

"Allow me to answer that question." Starling answered. Bending over she picked up the pieces she put them together. A few moments later Starling was holding a homemade crossbow and was raising an eyebrow.

"You know what; I don't even what to know." Kai and the others turned to go to the kitchen.

"I didn't say you could go anywhere yet." Starling grabbed Fin be the shoulder and pushed him back to the wall. "This will only take a second." She proceeded to pat him down and soon pulled two bamboo blow guns from his socks. "Ok you can go now." Turning she went to the weapons safe and left the homemade weapons secure. When she returned she found the group in the kitchen eating the Skydogs she had picked up earlier. Aerrow was brooding as usual, and Finn shot her a glare. _"Better he not have those toys on him. I owe Suzy big time for the heads up."_ "So what would you like to do? I know this is not exactly terra Neon, but I'm sure we can find something you would enjoy."

She was surprised to see the Wallop was the first to raise his hand.

"Yes, Junko." She asked.

"Um do you have a library here?" He asked timidly.

Kai was a bit surprised at the question, he didn't think of Wallops as dumb, but he had never seen one at the library before. "Yes we do have one, it's not that far from here actually. Would you like to see it?"

Junko nodded, along with Piper, Finn huffed, and Aerrow just shrugged.

"Well what do you think Star? It's not a bad place to start. And I'm pretty sure we have some stuff to return." Kai asked.

"I don't see why not, the rest of you won't be able to check anything out since you'll only be here for a day, but you can look around."

A few minutes later the group was at the library, Kai handed a large tote bag to the lady at the front desk which caused the visitors a bit of shock.

"Are all those yours?" Piper asked with a mixture of shock and awe.

"A few are the guys, and some are Stars, but most of them are mine yeah. Why does it matter?" Kai asked placing his now empty duffle on his back.

"Because I've never seen anyone that could read more then me before, what are those books on anyway?" The little girl asked.

"Most of them were on old legends, a few on crystals, and one on small engine repair." Kai was starting too really like this Piper girl. _"Now why cant little mister emo pants get his act together?"_ Kai was shaken from his thoughts by the receptionist.

The young woman called his name again. "Kai? We had some new books come in, so we will be selling off some of the older ones, are there any that you would like for me to pull for you before we put them out for the public?"

"Is Atmosian Lore one of the ones that will be replaced by any chance? He asked with a hopeful smile.

"Sorry sweetie, but that ones archived, you know that. Were there any others?" The young woman asked.

"You know what I read; can't you just tell me if any of the ones I want are up for sale?" Kai was a little disappointed, but he still had a chance to get something.

"Well, the crystal refining compendium will be sold as a set; you think you can afford it?"

_Squeal_

"Your selling a complete crystal refining compendium? Are they original editions? What kind of shape are they in?" The group turned to see Piper hanging off Kai's shoulder so she could see over the desk.

"Um they are in pretty good condition, and yes they are original editions. Who might you be little miss? I don't remember your face." The young woman asked.

"_Crud if they find out Aerrow's with us were in trouble." _"Um they are guest of ours, just staying over, their parents were going to be busy, and they needed someone to look after them." _"Not a complete lie, in fact it's mostly true."_

"Man this place is lame! Why are we in a library? These nothing to do here." Finn's voice cut through the quiet like an energy blade.

"You know, most people are quite in a library, I'll deal with you in a minute." Kai glared at the blond menace.

"Oh excuse me, but we don't allow pets in here." The woman pointed at Radarr.

_Grrrrrr_

"He stays with me." Aerrow glared at the young woman.

"I'm sorry but rules are rules. I'm afraid he'll have to stay outside." She replied.

"Um he needs to stay with us. He's not a pet, he's a uhh endangered species, and we've been entrusted with his care." Kai spoke up quickly. "Besides he will behave, you don't have to worry. Now about those books, how much would they be?" Kai asked trying to change the subject as quickly as he could.

The young woman smiled. "Well, it's a five book set, and they can't be sold separately, so you would have to pay the set price. So it would be eighty gold, and no I can't give you any discounts or deals."

"Ugh you have got to be kidding me. That's a bit out of my range." When Kai said this he noticed that the young girl, Piper he reminded himself, looked a bit dejected. _"I guess she really wants those books, ah to heck with it."_ "Do you accept personal checks?"

The clerk looked stunned for a second before coming to. "Eh yes we do accept personal checks, you mean to tell me you intend to buy the set?"

"Yes, it might be a bit steep, but I don't think I will find these anywhere else now will I." Kai filled out the check and handed it to the lady, who in turn went to the back room.

"Dude you just blew eighty gold on some dusty old books?! Did your parents drop you on your head or something?" Finn asked. His face looked like a cross between horror and shock.

"I have plenty to spend, and I can spend it however I see fit. What would you spend it on?" Kai asked raising a single eyebrow.

"Duh fist a new ax, then some strings for it, some good vinyls, and if I had any left I'd go on a little trip to Terra Neon." As he listed off each item Finn counted off on his fingers.

"Well to start I have very little interest in music, so I have no use for a guitar or any old records, as for terra Neon, I would go, but I don't really have the time, or a ride to get there." Kai said the last bit with a slight glare at Starling.

"Oh no you don't, you are not going to put the blame for that on me. You know full well a Sky Knight squadron can't afford to just up and leave their Terra for a joy ride." Starling fired back.

"What do you mean you don't have the time?" Junko asked slightly curious.

"Well, normally I get up at six, have warm ups and exercises until eight, then three hours of combat practice, followed by two hours of hands on mechanical class, then two hours of driving followed by two hours of flying practice. Between each of those I get an hour break to eat and rest, before crashing around nine or ten depending on who my instructors for the day are." When Kai finished he noticed the group of kids staring at him with wide mouths, even Aerrow.

"What kind of life is that?" Finn asked. By the look on his face you would have thought someone had insulted the god of music or something.

"It's the life he has chosen." The young woman returned with the five book set bound in a leather carry case. "It is very rare for someone to be accepted by a Sky Knight squadron for training, even rarer for someone so young to actually stay with it. I'm sure that great things will come of him in the future." She said as she handed over the leather satchel to Kai.

"Ah stop it, it's nothing special. Besides it's not all that rare." Kai threw the satchel over his shoulder and looked at Aerrow. The boy was glaring holes through his head. "Uh Star, why don't you show Junko, Piper, and the Ter…Finn around. I'm sure that there must be something they would like, and as long as it's a reasonable price I'll pay for it if it's for sale. I want a chance to talk to our other guest." Kai said as he motioned towards Aerrow.

"Oh do they have a section on music? Cause back on Terra Atmosis they have this huge section on great bands of the past." Finn was shaking with excitement.

"Um eh sure, Kai just be…tactful." As she walked by Starling knelt to whisper in his ear. "Also in the future, don't give me orders, you are not my superior, keep that in mind." When she said this Kai thought she was joking, but he could tell by her expression that she was dead serious.

"Yes…mam." Kai of course looked like a kicked puppy. "How bout we step outside, the weather's pretty nice out." He said without even turning around. Aerrow of course followed him without a word.

The two walked for a few minutes before Kai turned to face him. "Ok, what is your problem. You have done nothing but shoot me and Star glares since you got here. We've been nothing but hospitable since you got here. So what's your issue?" Kia placed the satchel beside a tree. They were in a small wooded area back behind the library.

"My issue, is the two of you treating my with this fake kindness. You don't even know me so I would appreciate it if you would drop the act!" The small read haired boy growled between clinched teeth. Radarr of course joined his master and actually growled.

"First of all, it's not fake, that's the way I normally treat people, and Star is trying her best, you don't even know us, so who are you to judge? Secondly I know plenty about you, not just what I've heard or read, but what I've seen since you arrived here." Kai glared back at the small boy.

"Oh and just what do you know?" Replied Aerrow. Neither boy or Radarr noticed a figure up in the tree watching them.

"Aerrow, original home Terra Toledos, until the age of four when his fathers squadron the, Storm Hawks were betrayed and killed by the second in command. The following attack wiped out most of the terra's population and you were then bounced around from terra to terra until eventually you arrived on terra Lyn. You have since lived there with the family of Finn as a ward of the state. That is your official profile." Kai spoke without flinching, he knew what was coming.

"HOW DARE YOU! AHHHH" The small boy charged Kai and tackled him to the ground. "DON'T YOU DARE TALK ABOUT SOMETHING YOU COULDENT EVEN BEGAIN TO UNDERSTAND!" The boy's gaze held a flame the Kai had rarely seen anywhere else. For a brief second, he could almost swear that he could see small blue sparks dancing across his eyes.

However, his words struck a rather sore cord with Kai. "Oh is that so? Which point might I have not clue about? What its like to have someone you care about betray them? To lose your friends? To lose a family member? Unless you forgot, there happens to be a WAR GOING ON!" At this point Kai slugged Aerrow in the jaw knocking him off.

"What could you possibly know about pain!? You've made it pretty clear that you have friends, family, a HOME! WHAT COULD YOU POSSIBLY HAVE LOST!" Aerrow was nearly foaming at the mouth. He might have been young, but he had spirit Kai noted.

"You're wasting your time here. You think you can become a Sky Knight just because you live with a squadron? So what? Even if you do become one, it's not like it will chance anything. What's the purpose of fighting in a war that has no effect on you?! You say there is a war going on. Yeah I know that, so tell me all knowing Oracle! How will your fighting make a difference?! Why do you even care?!" The small boy was shouting now. "You make it, you'll wind up like that woman you live with, some cold heartless slave of the council, or you'll end up dead."

_Thump_

He didn't even see it coming. One moment he was standing there, glaring at the fool who was preaching to him, next thing he knew, he was clutching his stomach, the wind having been knocked out of him.

"DON'T YOU DARE!" Kai's gaze was burning like the sun. He reached down and picked up the smaller boy by the shoulders and slammed him into the tree behind him. "Now you listen, and listen good. When I was five, Talons attacked this Terra, I lost two very important people that day."

"_Two? But his mother still lives, who could he be speaking about?" _The figure in the tree thought.

"My father died protecting me from a collapsing building. So I know plenty about loss, yes my mother is still alive, but she's a shell of what she used to be. Second, I know full well what it's like to lose your closest friend. To have them abandon you, betray you and themselves. It's the reason I train every day. Let me ask you this, have you ever felt the pain, of watching someone you care for, someone you love rot away day by day, to become a lifeless shell? Have you ever seen your closest friend, the person you care for more than anyone else kill themselves from he inside? Watch them turn into some kind emotionless façade of their former self?" Kai was having a hard time keeping himself in one piece as he spoke.

Aerrow on the other hand was shocked. Here was someone that had apparently went through something similar to himself, but had turned out complete different.

"The reason I want to fight in this war, the reason I am training, is so someone else won't have to. I train so that I can take another persons place fighting, so that that person will have a chance to return to the way they were." It was at this point that Kai ran out of steam and set Aerrow back down.

Aerrow was still stunned, and just starred back blankly.

"You know, you're lucky. The terra you're living on has kids your age to be around. For me, Starling was the closest thing to a kid there was on this rock. Did you know she used to baby set for me?" At this point Kai chuckled dryly. "After the third attack, she left for a while, turned out that she went for training. Special ops stuff. When she came back almost a year later, she was completely different. She didn't smile anymore, she didn't joke anymore. It was like, she was there, but she wasn't you know? And after she was knighted, she seemed to slip a bit more. It's hard to watch you friends fall, and you not be able to do anything about it."

"At least you have friends. Even if she changed, she's still alive." Aerrow replied.

"You can make friends, it's not hard. You're already on your way to making some now. Finn might be a terror, but I can tell that he looks at you like a brother. I bet he's an only child isn't he? His parents are gone a lot too right?" Kai said as he slid to the ground beside Aerrow.

"Yeah. How'd you know?" Aerrow asked surprised.

"Because he acts the way I used to whenever Star would go on trips that lasted longer then a week. I told you there were no other kids on this rock. He's probably starved for attention, and judging by the way he acts, he probably spends a lot of time hanging around terra Lyn's squadron, am I right?" Kai continued.

"Yes, he does. How do you keep doing that?" Aerrow asked a little freaked out that someone he had never even heard of before today seemed to know his adoptive brother so well.

"Remember Starling was trained for special ops, and she's one of the ones training me, so profiling people is something I would be taught. As for how I know, all he does is flirt, poorly I might add, and talk about music." At this the two boys laughed.

"Sounds like you got Finn pegged pretty good. What about the others?" Aerrow asked.

"Hmmm well, the Wallop, Junko right?" Aerrow nodded his head. "He acts a bit insecure, so I'm betting he gets picked on, also since he seems to read a lot I'm betting that he's not raised by his parents, probably a relative, an aunt or uncle, someone that doesn't have a lot of time to spend with him. Piper however, she's a hard call. She seems to be a very…peppy person. Probably comes from a large family and doesn't get a lot of attention. More than likely she has older siblings that she feels like she's trapped in their shadow and has to prove herself." Kai didn't tell him that he had also seen her sending the boy glances through out the entire day.

"You think they would be my friends? The young redhead asked.

At this Kai smiled. "You don't know unless you try. Besides I think your stuck living with Finn for awhile, so it might be best if you make him a friend. From what I've seen and heard about him, he's not someone you want as an enemy." Kai replied.

"You know, it's nice to talk to someone who knows what you've been through. I didn't know there were others like me around." Aerrow said with a smile.

At this however Kai merely sighed. "I know, but we shouldn't exist, and the sad thing is, there are plenty more of us. Starling lost her parents in a raid seven years ago, heck none of the Interceptors parents are alive. Most Sky Knights has little of no family. Suzi Lu of the Absolute Zeros parents died protecting their home terra. Carver from the Red Eagle's lost both of his parents in a training accident a few years back. The list goes on and on. It's one of the other reasons I want to become a Sky Knight, to prevent there from being others like us. To prevent others from going through what we did." When he said this, Kai noticed something change about Aerrow. He didn't know what, but the boy almost seemed to have an aura around him, it last for just a second, but Kai saw it.

"You mean to end to war don't you?" Aerrow asked.

"I don't think I can bring the war to an end, not on my own. But I hope to help bring it to an end, the sooner the better." After a few seconds he continued. "I'm getting sick of seeing it, I'm sick of hearing about it, I'm just sick of it all together. You know what I mean?" Kai asked looking at Aerrow.

The young boy met his gaze for just a moment before getting up. "Yeah, I think I know what you mean. Come on the others are probably worried about us." Reaching his hand out he grabbed Kai's hand and pulled him up. The two boys didn't notice the figure in the tree make its way to the library's back door and slip in.

"Oh and Aerrow." The boy turned when he heard his name called out.

_Thump_

The boy crumpled to the ground, the wind knocked out of him for the second time in under an hour. Kai reached down and pulled the boy back up. "Don't ever insult Star when I'm around ok? You might be a buddy, but she's my best friend, and I don't let anybody speak badly about my best friend, you hear?"

Aerrow rubbed his jaw for a second before nodding that he understood. "Hey no hard feelings, I expect you to do the same for someone else someday ok? Nothing on Atmos is more important then friends and family, even if they aren't your family by birth, always protect them."

The two boys made their way back to the library, Kai once again carrying his satchel on his shoulder. When they stepped inside they found the other four members of their group waiting for them. Piper had picked out an atlas she wanted, Junko a book on small engine repair and another on learning to make art from scrap metal, Finn had a single book that he was clutching under his arm, preventing the others from seeing the title.

"Ah you didn't see anything you wanted Star? I told you I'd pay for it." Kai said with a mock hurt voice.

"I was, eh, busy, I had to keep track of these three, or rather this one." She said pointing to Finn.

"Alright please put them up here please, I need to scan these." The young woman scanned the books that Piper and Junko had picked out with no problem, but the sticker on Finns had been scratched. Frowning the young woman picked up the phone setting on her desk. "Yes, it's me; I just needed a price check on an item." The woman turned the book over so she could read the title. "Yes here it is, How to play the Guitar, lessons for the utterly hopeless."

Of course the group of kids broke out into a series of snickers and giggles at this, even Starling grinned. _"Oh do I have some interesting stories for the others at our next Sky Council." _Starling thought.

After Kai paid for the books the made there way back to the Interceptor's HQ. The rest of the day was filled with many games of tag, hide and seek, and even a water balloon war. By the end of the day, they were all exhausted to the point of almost collapsing onto the floor. After changing into there night cloths, they all fell asleep rather quickly.

Morning seemed to come quickly, much too quickly for anyone's taste. The small group had learned a bit about each other, and Kai could see that the young kids had already formed a bond. _"I wonder where they will end up, only time will tell, but I hope for the best."_

Soon it was time for the guest to leave, the old man from the council returned, and Carver was with him. Knowing it was a lost cause to even try to clean the place up, the group decided wait outside. Kai surprised them when he gave Piper the books he had purchased the day before. But he explained his reason. "I wanted them only to collect; you might actually get some use out of them. I can't even read them so it would be a waste for me to keep them. But if you can make a dummy's version of the set I would appreciate it."

As the group left, Kai and Starling were surprised to see all four of the kids stop before boarding the transport. Turning, all four waved shouting that they looked forward to coming back. Kai never noticed that Starling had disappeared shortly afterwards.

Scene change

"So what is your report Sky Knight Starling?" The old man turned to the young woman, his face void of any emotion.

"Aerrow is still a bit unstable, but he seems to have recovered a bit, and given the motivation from Kai, I believe that he will follow in his fathers footsteps. The boy will become a Sky Knight, but it will take time." Starling looked away after speaking those words. She was disgusted with herself, but she had no choice in the matter. "I have lived up to my end of the bargain; you have your prince of the skies. I expect you to live up to your end now."

"Of course, you have fulfilled you mission admirably, and because of you, we might have a chance at winning this war. Your young charge will be barred from entry from both the Black ops and the Special ops divisions should he pass the Knight's trials. I am interested though, to hear your explanation as to why you do not wish for him to follow in your footsteps. From your reports, and those of the others in the community, he is more than capable for the role. Why do you wish to hold him back?" The old man asked as he peered over the rims of his glasses.

"Does it matter?" Starling said over her shoulder as she exited the ship. _"Yes Kai, I understand all to well what it is like to see someone become a shell of themselves, to watch them become emotionless masks, and to want to fight so someone else wont have to. I know it all to well."_ Starling walked back to the Interceptors HQ, pulling a few leaves from her hair as she did.

Kai was leaning against the wall outside the building as he saw Starling turn the corner.

"What are you doing out here?" She asked, slightly puzzled.

"It's my job to clean remember? I'm just trying to prepare myself mentally. It might be cheaper to just bulldoze the thing down and rebuild it from the ground up." Kai said with a dry laugh. Starling however had a hard time telling if it was a joke or not.

It was at this time that they heard four skimmers pull up.

"Whew, looks like the cost is clear." One of the pilots said as he dismounted his ride.

"WHERE HAVE YOU FOUR BEEN?!" Starling nearly exploded. But she continued before they could even speak. "Know what? I don't even care where you were. You disobeyed a direct order! I expect better of you, all of you! Now get inside NOW!

As they entered, Kai noticed the looks on the guy's faces. They varied between shock and utter horror. The Interceptors HQ looked like a war zone, scorch marks marred the walls and ceiling, a goat was eating what remained of the couch, the TV had a crossbow bolt sticking through it, and to top it all off, there was five inches of standing water, and it seemed to be rising.

"This is what I had to deal with, and where were you? Off joyriding! Thank the Aurora Stone Kai stayed behind or the entire HQ would have been nothing but a creator!"

The four men stood silent gaping at what had happened to their home.

"Now I want this place cleaned and repaired. I want it to look like it did three days ago, or so help me you will be doing emergency night air raid drills and eating E.M.R's for the rest of your unnaturally short lives!" The five males jumped at that and hurried off to grab the cleaning supplies. Kai almost jumped out of his skin when he felt a hand grab him by the shoulder.

"And where do you think your going?" Kai turned to see Starling looking at him with a serious expression.

"I was going to get some tools from the hanger, I though I could start with cutting off the water so it wouldn't rise any higher." The boy answered, slightly afraid.

"Well, I don't think that will be necessary." Starling said as she reached into one of her pockets. Pulling out a slightly burnt and charred folder, she opened it and pulled out a single piece of paper. "I managed to pull a few strings, and got us five shore leave passes for three days each." At this the guys filled back into the living room. Starling of course glared at them. "I was going to give them out as a reward for getting through this horrid occasion. Unfortunately, at least for you four, only one remains, the others having been burned in a cooking accident. So, _I_ will be taking my three days of leave as of now. I expect you four to have this place spotless by the time we return." With that she grabbed Kai's hand and pulled him to the hanger.

After a few seconds the guys unfroze and rushed to the hanger. When they arrived they saw Starling on her skimmer, the Red Streak with a very stunned Kai sitting behind her, his arms holding onto her by the waist. "Where are you going? One of them shouted.

"I haven't had a vacation in quite awhile, and I think I deserve one after today and yesterday. Kai didn't abandon me, even though he didn't have to stay, so I figure he deservers a reward. Don't call me unless it's an emergency!" With that she pushed the throttle to full and sped down the runway, deploying the wings as the skimmer went over the side of the Terra.

Kai finally managed to shake himself out of his stupor leaned forward a bit. "Um, not that I'm complaining, but where are we going?" His voice was a little shaky, though he had ridden and flown plenty before, he had never been on the Red Streak, or rode with Starling on a skimmer.

Starling looked back over her shoulder and smiled. "I thought we could head over to terra Neon for a few days. It's been ages since we went there last." At this he raised an eyebrow. "Your finally tall enough to ride the good stuff, we both need a break, and you earned it. Besides I haven't had any real fun in far too long."

With that she fired the afterburners smiling to herself as she heard Kai howling like he was one of the Zeros.

Chapter End.

AN: Ok that was my first attempt at writing the actual characters from the Storm Hawks series as having a serious role in a chapter. I tried to catch the personalities as best I could. Kai's description of each of them is my personal opinion on the characters based on observations from the show. Now as for Kai, I'm trying to keep him from becoming a Mary Sue. I realize that he might seem very sueish, esp with the cruddy childhood part. But keep in mind this series takes place during a civil war. In war there is death, pain and suffering. I am trying to keep this series as light hearted as possible, but at the same time keep it somewhat realistic. If you have any questions, review, I'll try to post an answer as quickly as I can. Please, check out my other stories Broken Wing and The One Year Flight (posted on my profile) and Total Drama Terra! (posted by Lane19) Till next chapter Ja Ne!


	3. A Light in the Shadows

Broken Wing

A Light in the Shadows

This chapter was a major pain in the butt, however, I managed to get it done. Just to make sure nobody gets the wrong idea, I'm telling you upfront, Kai is six and Starling is eleven. Read and review!

Disclaimer: I do not own Storm Hawks, and never will. They are the property of Asaph "Ace" Fipke and made by Nerd Corps Entertainment, however I DO own Kai, the Shadow crystal and this story.

"Speech"

"_Thought"_

_Sound_

Kai jumped from his bed in fear. Looking around he quickly saw his glow in the dark Storm Hawks clock. _"10:30? That can't be right. There is no way that dream was only an hour long."_

A few minutes later he tried to go back to sleep, but he couldn't forget about the nightmare, it had just seemed so real. Finally after trying every position he could think of Kai rolled out of his bed and half shuffled, half dragged himself out of his room and into the hallway. The house was dark, a combination of it being night time, added to this was the fact that almost all of the lights had been turned off, but he knew his way around the house, after all he did live here. Once he reached to kitchen he was glad see the light was on through the crack underneath the door.

"_She's still up."_ Reaching up Kai rubbed a little of the sleep from his eyes before pushing open the door.

"Ugh why does there have to be a technical portion in the trials? Isn't it hard enough as it is?" A young feminine voice groaned shortly before a thump was heard.

"You ok Star?" The little boy tugged on her sleeve. He knew that she was studying for the Sky Knight trials, but lately she seemed to be hitting a brick wall with her studies.

"Ah! Oh it's just you. You scared me there for a minute. Why are you up? I thought I put you to bed." Starling sat up in the chair and looked down at her young friend.

The two had known each other for almost a year now. Starling was an orphan, having lost her parents in the war. She was ten at the time so it very was hard for her, especially since there were so few children on Terra Mesa, and her parents had been her entire world. She refused to be adopted however, wishing to keep her parents name as it was all that was left of them, so she lived in her parent's old house by herself. She even refused to accept handouts and tried to find herself a job, however there was very little that a ten year old girl could do for work, but she took what she could get. Cleaning, housework, and yard work were all that was available at first, but a few months later there was another casualty of the war, Kai's father.

Kai's mother was unable to work while at the same time take care of her young son, so she reluctantly hired Starling to take care of him while she worked. The two had quickly become friends and were now rarely, if ever seen apart.

"I had a bad dream." The little boys head hung low and his unruly dark hair hid his face from view.

Thinking for a moment, Starling smiled and reached out to touch his shoulder. "Well, I could use a break, come on, we'll watch a little TV." Starling got up and the little boy quickly followed.

"Can we eat ice cream too?" He asked.

Starling turned to face the boy and dropped down to his level. "You know the rules, besides you wouldn't want me to get in trouble with your mother would you?" When she saw him shake his head she ruffled his hair. Starling smiled then added. "For a boy you sure do have long hair, why don't you let your mom cut it?"

"Come on I want to see some cartoons!" The little boy quickly ran the rest of the way into the living room, leaving her question unanswered.

"_It must be nice still being a little kid. It's hard to believe that I was just like that not even a year ago."_ Starling thought as she walked into the living room.

"Come on! You read books all day and you'll turn old!" The small boy flashed a bright smile before going back to watch his cartoons.

"Oh alright, but don't call me old! I'm only eleven and you know that." Fixing the boy with a fake glare she sat down beside him.

About an hour passed and Starling knew that she had to get back to her studies. "Alright, come on, its time for you to go to bed." She stood up and shook the small child awake.

"But I'm…not….sleepy, I don't need…_yawn_…to go back." The child was wobbling and seemed to have a hard time standing.

"Come on, you need your sleep, and I need to get back to my studies, they are very important." She finally managed to get him back upstairs to his room, and tucked him in before heading back down into the kitchen.

Less then twenty minutes passed before she heard screaming come from upstairs. Quickly she ran up to his room and threw the door open. "What happened!? Are you alright!?" Starling quickly moved to the younger child's bed. She sat down and wrapped her arms around him trying to calm him down. She knew that for him, nightmares were common but he rarely ever told her what they were, the ones he had told her though were bad enough that even she would be unable to sleep after hearing about them.

"It was the same one." He said between sniffles. "I was falling, and, there was just…nothing. I could see, but I couldn't feel anything, I couldn't hear anything." The small child broke down crying in her arms clinging to her like a lifeline.

"_And here I was worried about studying. I should have known that he would have had another one before the nights over."_ Holding the smaller child close she rubbed his back with one arm. She knew from past experience that there was nothing she could say, but at the same time she didn't need to. He only needed someone to be there, someone to hear, someone to touch, someone to let him know that he was awake, and that what had happened was just a dream, that is was not real.

After a few minutes he finally calmed down, but when he looked at his friends face, he looked like a kicked puppy. "I'm sorry." Starling had to strain her hearing just to make out what he was saying.

"Sorry? Sorry for what?" She asked as she wiped a tear from his cheek with her thumb.

"I'm sorry that I keep you from reading so much. I'm sorry for always bothering you." He then tried to turn the other way.

She quickly spun him around to face her and made sure he could see her face. "Why would you think that you were bothering me?" She knew that she sometimes came across a bit harsh, but they were friends, he should have known that by now.

"When I told you about my dream, you looked upset." He said trying not to look her in the eye.

"Kai, I promise you, I was not mad at you, I was mad at myself. You woke up once with bad dreams earlier tonight, and I should have stayed with you to make sure they didn't come back." She could see that he had calmed down a bit, but knew that he would have a hard time going back to sleep. "Do you want me to stay with you?" She asked. Even though he had stopped crying, he was still trembling.

"If..if..you wouldn't mind." He managed to say between was he sniffed.

"Alright, I need to get some sleep anyways, scoot over some." She motioned for him to move over a little and he complied. As soon as she was underneath the covers he clung to her the same way he had earlier, he was still shaking, but he seemed to have calmed down.

"I can't sleep." He said. "I don't want to go back to that place." He added.

Thinking for a minute Starling remembered the one thing that always helped her go back to sleep, back before her parents…. She shifted her position so she was on her back and slightly higher up then he was, then wrapped one arm around him and pulled him close to her chest. "Can you hear my heart beat?"

He didn't answer, but she could feel his head nod.

"Listen to it, and remember it, as long as you can hear it, you won't go back, ok?"

"Promise." He asked.

"I promise, now go to sleep, I'll be here when you wake up, and then we'll head over to the library and get some new books. That sound like a good idea?"

She waited for a response but never got one. Looking down she saw that he was fast asleep. Smiling, she wrapping her other arm around him, and held tightly as she too fell into the world of sleep and dreams.

End Chapter.

AN: Ok, I nearly died choking to death as I wrote this (I'm allergic to fluff) but I had to do it. This is my reply to an old friend that said guys are completely incapable of writing half decent "cute" stories. So he it is, it's not that we can't, we just prefer stuff with action, adventure, and humor over fluff. This chapter also serves as background for how the two interact in my other stories as well. Also, there is a reason behind the nightmares, and no it has nothing to do with Kai's dragon powers, to find out more, you'll have to keep reading my work.


	4. How it all Began

Broken Wing

Yesteryears

How it all Began

Hello and welcome to the fourth chapter of Yesteryears. I've been planning this chapter for a while now, but I wasn't exactly sure how to go about it. Anyways, this chapter will focus on how Kai and Starling first met. Quite a bit of it was inspired from helping babysit my two youngest cousins (I have 26  in total) who are five and seven years old. It's kind of neat watching how their minds work and I enjoyed writing something through the eyes of a child.

Disclaimer: I do not own Storm Hawks, and never will. They are the property of Asaph "Ace" Fipke and made by Nerd Corps Entertainment, however I DO own Kai, Rose, Myna, the Shadow crystal and this story.

"Speech"

"_Thought"_

_Sound_

One month had passed, and Kai was still plagued by nightmares on a regular basis. Starling had given him a present that she had hoped would help him sleep at night, and thankfully, it had seemed to help.

She was surprised by the way he treated it though. It was a Lunar crystal with the Interceptors insignia carved into it, a little trinket that she had bought from a kiosk stand for a few coins. But the young boy treated it as though it were his most prized position.

"_I can't really blame him though, if I were in his shoes I probably would have built a temple for the thing. How he was able to function with so little sleep is beyond me."_ Starling was currently relaxing in her house. It turned out that her parents had left everything that they had to her when they died, or at least that's how the lawyer explained it. The dummied down version he told her was that everything was now hers and that she wouldn't have to pay any bills.

He had been right about most of it. Everything was paid for, but he neglected to mention that there was one bill to be paid.

His.

Over a year had passed since then, and while she had been furious with the man at first, she no longer knew if she would attack him or thank him should they ever cross paths again.

_Flashback_

He had basically taken every bit of gold that her parents had left her. So while she did have a house to live in, she had no money to pay for anything else like food. She flat out refused to be adopted, wanting to keep her family name, but it was hard to find work.

Terra Mesa was unique in that it had a bell shaped demographic. Nearly the entire terra's population was over thirty, added to that there were five males for every one female. So, facing these statistics, who would hire a ten year old girl to do anything?

She also had very little in the way of education, since her parents were home schooling her, so this made things plenty difficult to begin with. Then there was the fact that she was ten, a girl, and was skinny enough that if she stuck out her tongue and stood sideways she looked like a zipper. Not exactly working grade material.

Still she tried her best. At first the only jobs she had been able to get were mowing lawns, raking leaves, and every now and then she was given the chance to clean a house. She knew that most of the people had only hired her out of pity, which did sting a bit, but she took what she could get.

About two months later though, things were starting to look rather grim. The few scant few coins she had been able to save didn't last very long. She was in trouble and she knew it. That's when it happened.

Another raid.

Terra Mesa was on the boarder between the Atmosian's and the Cyclonain's. So raids were quite common, especially with terra Bogaton being less than three hours away. The Sky Squadron of terra Mesa, the Interceptors, did their best, but usually they were badly outnumbered. So while they were able to prevent any major damage, they weren't able to prevent all of it, and, it just so happened that this was the case.

The attack was only fifteen minutes, but in that time they had managed to destroy several buildings and three people had lost their lives.

While returning home a week later, Starling noticed something on the wall of the grocery store that caught her eye. It was a request add, apparently someone was looking for a full time babysitter. She memorized the address and went home. Early the next morning, she got up and made herself look as presentable as she could, wanting to make a good first impression. She knew that there was little chance of her actually getting the job, but she really needed it, and had nothing to loose.

The house was a little bit bigger than her own, but not by much, just a simple two story house with a modest yard. Taking a deep breath, she knocked on the door.

Nothing happened

So she tried again.

Still nothing happened.

"I guess their not home." Just as she was about to leave the door opened to revealing a woman with short strawberry blonde hair that appeared to be in her late twenties. She seemed to be in a rush however and upon seeing who it was that knocked, she scowled.

"What do you want? I'm late enough as it is, and I don't have time for handouts if that's what you're looking for." The woman said harshly.

Biting back her tongue, Starling replied as civilly as she could. "You put out a request add for a sitter, so I."

The woman cut her off. "You don't seriously believe that I would hire a child to babysit do you?"

Once again, she held back her tongue. "Mam, I have lived on my own now for almost three months, and I have been able to take care of myself just fine." She was silently thankful to have worn long sleeves and that she had not tucked her shirt in; otherwise the woman would have pointed out her rather thin and almost fragile frame. She was svelte to begin with, but after two months of having very little to eat, she was downright scrawny.

The woman eyed her top to bottom and after a minute sighed. "Very well, I'll give you one chance." The woman then stood aside allowing her to enter.

Thanking the woman, she entered the house and removed her shoes.

"He's eating breakfast in the kitchen at the moment. The bathrooms are upstairs along with his bedroom, don't let him have any sugar and make sure he's in bed by eight. I should be back around nine." The woman then left the dazzed girl without another word.

"Mommy?"

Starling heard footsteps running towards her and guessed that this was the woman's son. _"Please, by the Oracle stone, be different than your mother."_ Starling silently prayed.

Then she saw him.

He stopped in the middle of the hallway upon seeing her and froze.

Neither one moved, neither one spoke. They just stared at each other.

Indeed, he was nothing like his mother.

For one thing, his hair was jet black, and his eyes were a deep blue color that Starling had rarely seen before. Deciding to break the ice, she approached him while trying her best to remain pleasant. She remembered that just because he didn't look like his mother, it didn't mean that he wasn't anything like her.

"Who are you?" He asked tensing.

She stopped when she realized that she didn't know what his name was. In her rush to leave, the boy's mother hadn't told her.

"I'm Starling. It's nice to meet you." She said holding out her hand.

The little boy looked at her hand and then looked back to her face. "Where's mommy? She said I had to go with her today." He asked still keeping his distance.

"Your mommy asked me to look after you while she was gone. So I guess you could say that I'm your babysitter." She said still trying to keep herself calm. Only now did the entirety of the situation dawn on her. She was responsible for taking care of a child that was only a few years younger than herself for an entire day.

He took a few steeps forward, but then stopped. The way he was acting reminded her of her neighbor's cat, very cautious, and somewhat nervous. So, not really knowing what else to do, she decided to act the same way she did with her neighbor's cat, and hoped that it would work.

Very slowly she walked towards him, being carful not to make any sudden movements. The young boy stayed where he was, not moving a muscle. She could see that he was thinking, sizing her up and trying to figure out whether or not she was a threat. She could see that his eyes were darting around, but they never left her for more than a second, she also noticed that the closer she got to him, the more he seemed to tense up, which worried her. She decided not to push it and stopped when she was still several feet away and held out her hand. Once again, he looked back and forth between her hand and her face.

Slowly, he reached out with his own hand, and shook hers lightly. "I'm Kai." His voice was so soft that she was barely able to hear him speak.

"Well Kai, I'm a little new at this, so I might need your help ok?" She asked still smiling.

His only response was a slow nod.

"_Ok, think, he's what, five? What did your parents do when you were that age?"_ When she came out of her thoughts, she noticed that the young boy was staring at her eyes, something that people had been doing quite a bit lately and it was starting to annoy her, but she knew that she couldn't just yell at him. "Is something wrong?" She asked trying to get him to stop staring.

He shook his head for a moment then looked back at her. "Star ok?" He asked.

She had expected any number of things, but that was not one of them. "What?" She asked getting down to his level. That's when she saw it. It wasn't until she had gotten closer to him that she noticed his eyes. They looked blue from a distance, but up close she was able to see that they were a raw red color. She leaned forward so that she was slightly closer and noticed that there was something wrong. Once again, it was his eyes. They looked, hollow, vacant, almost empty. It was something that she found to be all too familiar.

They looked exactly like hers.

"_Oh no."_ Thinking back, she began putting the pieces together. She knew that he must have lived on Mesa for several years since no one had moved to the terra as far as she knew, yet it was only now that his mother had requested a sitter. Combined with her snippy mood it became pretty obvious. _"His father must have been one of the three that died in the raid last week."_

"Star ok?" He asked again shaking her arm snapping her back into reality.

She was about to answer when her stomach growled, causing the small boy to jump. Cheeks red with embarrassment, she decided to change what she was going to say. "I am a little hungry."

The little boy was now laughing, which slightly annoyed her, but she remembered that she had to make a good impression, since, as her stomach had so aptly reminded her, she hadn't eaten since the day before yesterday.

After he stopped laughing, the little boy grabbed her hand and pulled her in the direction he had come from.

"Where are you taking me?" She asked.

"Tummy hungry?" He asked laughing.

Sighing, she answered. "Tummy, very hungry."

When they reached the kitchen, she went straight to the fridge, which she was very pleased to find fully stocked. There were now two main problems however; one was that she couldn't just eat to her stomachs content, and two, she didn't know how to cook. She did notice that there was plenty of bread however, so she decided that it wouldn't hurt to make a few sandwiches.

A few turned out to be seven, only one of which was later eaten by Kai.

The rest of the day was fairly quiet. Starling was thankful that the child's primary interest seemed to be reading, and that he was very well behaved. They had talked for a little while, and she helped him with any words that he didn't know. She had decided that the boy was indeed nothing like his mother.

How wrong she was.

Minutes turned into hours, hours flew by, and before long it was dark outside and they heard someone at the door.

"Why is Kai not in bed? I told you his bed time was eight-o-clock." The mother asked.

Starling got up and was going to speak to the woman, but she wasn't even given the chance to defend herself.

"That was the only thing I told you to do and you couldn't even do it? That's what I get for trusting a child I suppose. Get out, you're fired!"

She couldn't move. She tried, but she just couldn't. It was like something was holding her in place. She was angry; she was upset, she was hurt, she was so many things that she was just plain confused. She tried to move again but found that she was still being held in place, she also noticed that she felt….warm? Looking down she saw a mop of black hair.

"No."

Looking down, the mother saw that her son was holding onto his (now fired) sitter. "Kai, go to your room." She said in sweetly.

"No."

Starling was surprised at how firm the child's voice was.

"Kai, go to bed. This does not concern you." During this little interchange, she had yet to break eye contact with Starling, who was still slightly stunned.

"Yes it does." Starling noticed that his grip had tightened considerably.

"Kai, you will go to bed this instant, or you won't be allowed to go to the library for three months." His mother had finally broken eye contact with the still shell-shocked girl.

She felt his grip loosen and his arms drop from her waist. _"He did try."_ Though upset at the loss of what had seemed to be a dream come true, she was impressed by the young boys actions. She turned and was about to leave when she heard him speak once again.

"Then Star stay?"

Spinning around she saw that the little boy had only let go of her to turn around and face his mother. He was looking straight up at her with a fiery determination that matched her own.

Throughout the entire day, Starling had watched as the timid little boy became increasingly more open and expressive, but she was still convinced that it would be a number of years before he would stand up to anyone, and that he would probably be a frequent target of bullying.

"What?" His mother asked.

Starling noticed that the mother's fire seemed to die down slightly from confusion.

"Mommy said, go to bed or no liebarry. No liebarry Star stay?"

It took her a few seconds to understand what he was saying, but Starling caught on before his mother did. _"He's trying to make a deal with his mother, the library for me."_ She couldn't help but smile. Though extremely simple and very childish, he was trying to barter on her behalf. Something he had, the library, for something he wanted, her.

"Sweetie, I don't think you understand." Starling was surprised when the little boy cut off his own mother.

"No liebarry, Star stay. Star stay, no liebarry." Then he did something that nearly made both Starling and his mother's jaw drop.

He held out his hand to shake.

Starling was once again the first to come out of her stupor. _"He's put her in a rather tight spot. The way she worded it, he thought that she was making an offer, but if she tells him no, then he probably wont be willing to make any bargains with her in the future, or at least for a few years."_

The boy's mother apparently knew this as well. Starling could have sworn that she saw the flames in her eyes increase ten fold, and she knew that they were directed at her. It was strange though, for some reason, they didn't affect her as they had earlier. She could still move, she didn't feel any pressure on her chest, and she was able to breathe normally. Out of the corner of her eye she caught a glimpse of her reflection on a wall hung mirror and was shocked by what she saw.

She was smiling.

It wasn't a large toothy grin, nor was it a wide happy smile. It was a just a simple, small, smile.

Looking back, for a brief second, she saw what looked like a torrent of fire coming at her, but it was being held back by an equally fierce wall of flame.

"_I guess he does have one thing in common with her after all."_ She thought slightly amused.

Dropping down to his level, the boy's mother looked him directly in the eye. "No library as long as she stays." She then held out her hand, and was surprised when he took it without a second thought and gave it a firm shake.

The woman then looked back and Starling and smirked. "Well, you heard him. It looks like you might be keeping your job for another few days." She then looked down at her son. "She stays, but it's still time for you to go to bed."

He still didn't move however.

"Kai, I promise that as long as you don't go to the library, she will be welcome here." She said slightly exasperated.

The little boy nodded then looked back to Starling one last time before heading up stairs.

_Flashback end_

That had been over a year ago, and both parties were still living up to their ends of the bargain. Kai had yet to set foot in the library since that day, and in turn his mother had allowed Starling to keep her job.

It was almost comical now that she thought about it. His mother had been sure that he would only go for a few days before ending the deal. A few day turned to a week, a week became a month, then months. He never once complained about it though.

She still remembered how after the first two weeks, she hugged him and cried. It scared him at first because he thought he had done something that made her upset, but she explained that she was not crying because she was sad, but rather because she was happy.

There was no way for him to have realized it at the time, but he had saved her life. It had taken nearly a month for her to make a complete recovery. Her frame had become so thin that her clothes barely even fit anymore, and her muscles had degenerated from the lack of protein. But gradually, her strength returned and her complexion improved.

There was just one thing that bugged her though._ "I still don't know why he did it. Why did he stand up for me in the first place?"_ She had asked him several times, but he would never give her a straight answer, always finding a way to change the subject or flat out refusing to answer. That had been the only negative, aside from that there were only positives.

She was still hurting from the loss of her parents, she was alone, not having anyone who cared for her, weak from having nothing to eat, and to be perfectly honest, she had been scared, she honestly didn't know what was going to happen, and was scared of what could have. Yet by pure chance, she came across someone that was in nearly the same boat as herself.

He had been hurting from the loss of his father, who in time she found out had been the one raising him while his mother worked; he was alone since his father had been the only friend he ever had, he had been weak due to no longer having someone strong to stand up for him, and he was afraid that he would never have another friend.

That day, they had made a silent promise to each other, a pact for life. They would heal the others wounds as best they could, and they would never allow the other to feel alone. He would help her stay strong, while in return she would protect him.

But it was the last part that they were the most thankful for.

They both swore that no matter what, they would never allow anything to come between their friendship. As long as he knew that she would always be there, she knew that she would never have to worry about what would happen, because he would always be there.

End Chapter.

AN: I know the ending was a bit sappy, but I can personally vouch that there is no better feeling than knowing you have a friend who will always be at your side. Now, as for this chapter, the main thing I'm trying to do is provide explanations for the observations of the Storm Hawks in my other story, Broken Wing. This chapter could be considered the companion chapter for Radarrs Reconnaissance; the previous chapter is connected to Finn's Findings. Anyways, please review! Til next time, Ja Ne!


	5. A special gift

Yesteryears

Chapter 5 A special gift.

Ok, I know that I've been letting my other stories slid as of late, but things have just been busy lately and I haven't had much time to work on anything. I hope this chapter's not too bad, and I hope that both of my readers enjoy it. Oh for this chapter Kai is six and Starling is eleven. Read and review!

Disclaimer: I do not own Storm Hawks, and never will. They are the property of Asaph "Ace" Fipke and made by Nerd Corps Entertainment, however I DO own Kai, the Shadow crystal and this story.

"Speech"

"_Thought"_

_Sound_

Starling was just about ready to pull her hair out.

It made no sense.

"_Why?"_

"_Why would a six year old be having such nightmares?"_ She thought. It made absolutely no sense. Sure, little kids were prone to having them on occasion, but not on a scale such as this.

Two months had passed since she had given him the nightlight. For a while, it seemed to have done the trick. Kai's sleep was for the most part normal, _"Aside from the fact he only seems to sleep for five hours at most"_ she amended, but that all changed about a week ago.

The nightmares were back.

Big time.

It seemed that during the two month break they had regrouped, gotten reinforcements, and had now renewed the assault. At first she had thought it was just a spell that would soon pass, this was followed by the thought that perhaps he was faking it for some reason.

That theory she dropkicked when she saw the hurt expression on his face when she asked him.

After that she nearly tore the house apart looking for any sort of object that could be to blame, some cursed crystal or doll, not even the kitchenware escaped being scrutinized. But all this had done was incur the wrath of her friends mother, which while no longer having the power to harm or frighten her, was still something she didn't enjoy.

"_Think! What am I missing? He's six years old; he lives at home with his mother and spends most of the time with me. Terra Mesa may not be the best place to grow up, but it's far from the worst."_ She thought as she watched the tiny frail form of her closest friend cry itself to sleep in her arms. She held him close and rocked back and forth while shushing, not even sure what she was doing any more.

"_This has to stop. I'm not sure how much more of this he can take."_ His grip finally loosened, signaling that he was once again asleep.

"_Ok Star, think, he has nightmares every night, sometimes more than one. The only thing that seems to keep them away is if he sleeps with his mother or yourself. Could it be that he's afraid of being alone?"_ She dismissed that thought as soon as it came. No, she knew that Kai was more than capable of looking after himself if need be. She had seen to that herself. While limited, she had taught him everything that she knew, from sowing and stitching to how to make a fire. She wanted to make sure that if anything happened, he would at least have as good of a start as she had._ "Could it be abandonment?"_ That one stuck a bit better. She would never forget how hard he had fought for her the first day they had met, and he did seem to follow her everywhere she went. But there were two things wrong with that theory.

First and foremost was that he still had nightmares if she was in the house, just not if she was in the same room. Second was that he slept soundly if he was with his mother.

"_That theory's out as well. What could it be? I know that he can sleep without sharing a bed, we proved that yesterday, someone just has to be in the same room."_

Starling's main concern was for the boy's mental health. She was only eleven, but even she knew that it couldn't be healthy for him to continue like this. She had spoken with a doctor on the terra, and he had told her much the same and, something else, there was an addition risk.

He was not only becoming dependent on others at a very young age, but he was becoming mentally weak.

When she had asked what this meant, she was given a crash course in child psychology, more specifically, psychological development.

While growing, a child's mind not only learns how to perceive the world around it, but also how it perceives itself. This was a critical age for Kai. If his mind developed the perception that he was weak, and had to be cared for, it would not only hamper him, it could outright prevent him from developing, both mentally and emotionally. He had to see himself as strong, or at the very least, strong enough. Starling took it upon herself to do this, not only because the boy's mother didn't seem to care, but because she felt that she owed it to him.

Her mission was to stop the nightmares.

"_Ok, we know that if he is alone he has them, but as long as he knows that he is not alone he is fine. What would happen if he thought that he was alone but was not?"_ Following this line of thought, she made plans for the next night, plans that she hoped would yield something she could use.

The following day she told Kai that she would not be able to stay that night, that something had come up she had no control over. Kai's face clouded up, they already knew that his mother was out for the week, so this in turn led to a single conclusion for the young boy.

"I'm gonna be alone?" He asked slightly worried.

"Yes Kai, I'm sorry, but you will be alone tonight. But I promise that when you wake up I'll be there ok?"

The little boy nodded slowly, he knew that when she promised something, she meant it.

Feeling bad for the small fib, she hugged him tightly. "Kai, listen to me, you'll be ok. You can't let these dreams get to you. You have to be strong, strong for yourself." She pulled back and smiled. "You stood up to your mom, how much harder could this be?" She asked ruffling his hair.

The day went by, and around eight thirty Starling said goodbye.

As soon as the door closed behind her, she ran around to the other side of the house and shimmed up the tree that was outside Kai's bedroom window. She had left the window open earlier, so she knew that she would be able to get in. Once inside, she closed and locked the window, and made her way to the closet. It had slatted siding, so she could see outside if she craned her neck just right. After she was situated, she closed the doors, just in time too.

Kai looked around, swearing that he had heard someone in his room.

"Monsters! You better hide!" He yelled.

Starling had to force back laughing at his little act of bravery. In the back of her mind however, she hoped that it would work.

An hour passed and Starling was beginning to think that there was more to the problem than she could figure out. She had thought that if he thought he was alone, the nightmares would act up, but it seemed that as long as someone was in the same room with him, he was fine, even if he didn't know it.

"_Great, now I'm stuck sleeping in a closet."_ She thought as her eyes started to grow heavy.

That's when she saw something that she would never have believed in a million years unless she had seen it herself.

The entire room went pitch black.

Everything, she looked down and saw nothing, no floor, no ground, nothing, just a bottomless pit. She opened her mouth to scream, but nothing came out, nothing.

Her eyes widened in horror. Kai's nightmares were no mere dreams, they were real. Stumbling back she felt her back hit something hard, hard and pointy. She turned to see.

Nothing.

There was nothing behind her, just more blackness._ "I know that I felt something though, something poked me."_ She thought as she reached out however, she felt something and jumped, which in turn caused her to feel something else, something she was vary familiar with.

Pain.

Holding her now sore head, she yelled out in pain but still couldn't hear anything. She spun around to try and feel if there was anything in front of her, but she felt a wall, a wooden wall with._"Are those slats? But that would mean?"_ Narrowing her eyes in concentration, Starling visualized the closet the way it was earlier. When she felt for the door knob, she found it right where it was originally._ "What is going on here? Everything is still here, nothing has moved, it's all still here, I just can't see it."_ Starling thought as she forced open the closet and rushed to the writhing mass under the beds covers. Looking over the edge, she saw that Kai's eyes were not closed, they were open, he wasn't sleeping, but at the same time, he didn't seem to be awake. His eyes were half glazed, half void, like he was sleepwalking.

"_What do I do? Forget what do I do, what is happening? How is this happening? It makes no"_ Starling's eyes widened._ "KAI!"_

"_It's Kai! This is not something that's happening to him, it's something that he's causing, he's doing all this!"_ She realized. She ran to the boy, she had to wake him up, if he woke on his own, he would think that it was another nightmare. Jumping upon his bed, she grabbed him and held him close._ "How can I wake him up? I can't just shake him. But at the same time, he can't hear me so."_ That's when she remembered. _"I couldn't see the walls or the door, but they were still there. If the door was still there, then maybe, just maybe."_

"Kai, remember, I promised, I promised that I would be here when you woke up. I'm keeping my promise Kai, I'm right here." She shouted as loud as she could. She couldn't hear her voice, but she hoped that he would be able to, that somewhere in the back of his mind; he was able to hear her voice.

For a few seconds nothing happened, then he blinked a few times, like his brain was rebooting. Finally he looked around and screamed.

Starling let go and covered her ears before shouting for him to cut it out.

"Starwing?" He asked looking around franticly.

"_He can hear me, but he can't see me? Why? I can see and hear him just fine."_ Not exactly understanding, but at the same time not really caring, she reached out and grabbed his flailing arms so that they wouldn't hit her.

"Kai! I'm right here; I'm sitting in front of you!" She said as calmly as she could. _"First I have to calm him down, then we have to figure out what on Atmos is going on."_ She thought.

"Star, where are you? I can't see you." Kai's voice was trembling, fear poring from it like buckets of water.

"Kai, I told you, I'm sitting right in front of you. We're in your room, you're in bed and I'm sitting in front of you." She answered, still trying to figure out what exactly was going on.

"Star? I…I can't see you." Once again, he seemed to be shrinking back.

"_He must think that he is still dreaming. Oh fiddle sticks, if I can't get it through his head that he's not dreaming, then it will only get worse."_ Starling thought for a second, and let go of Kai's arms. Which he immediately yanked back and wrapped around him self.

"Why? It's not fair. Why wont bad dreams go away!" Kai shouted.

"_This is not good, he's cracking!"_ Starling knew that she had to act fast. Time had run out, and if she didn't do something right now, Kai's self image would be destroyed for good.

Quickly, she crawled around him so that she was sitting behind him. Once she was settled, she wrapped her arms around him and held him close. She felt him flinch for a moment, but ignored it. Carefully, and very slowly, almost as if he were made of glass, Starling started to rock side to side, and hummed.

_Hmm hm hm hmmmm_

_Hmm hmmm hmm hmm hmmmmmmm_

_Hmm hmm hmm hmmmmm_

"_Please work."_ Starling prayed in her mind.

_Hmm hmm hmmhmm hmmmmmm_

_Hmm hmm hm hmmmm_

_Hmm hmm hm hm hmmmmm_

Slowly, ever so slowly, she could feel Kai relaxing in her arms.

"_He can hear it."_ She smiled and leaned forward so that she was holding him as tightly as she could.

_Hmmmm hmm hmm hmmmm_

_Hmm hm hmm hmmm hmmmmmm_

"Star?" He asked slowly.

"Hm?" Starling asked resting her head on his shoulder.

"Star, what happened? Why are you here?" He asked clearly confused.

Starling released him and then removed herself from him. _"How can I explain something that I don't even understand?"_ Mentally groaning, she crawled in front of him and sat down so that they were facing each other.

Taking a deep breath, she started. "Kai, in all honesty, I don't know what happened. But what I do know is that you haven't been having nightmares all this time. Those dreams that you've been having were in a sense real."

Kai's eyes became the size of dinner plats.

"Now, before you start, I said that they were real in a sense. What you saw was not real, but it was not a dream either." She explained, wincing at how bad her explanation sounded even to herself.

"But…if I saw it…then why it not real? If you see it, it has to be real right?" He asked slightly panicking.

"Not really." She said trying to think of an example she could use. Snapping her fingers, she grinned. "TV. You can see things on tv like cartoons, but their not real."

The little boy seemed to think this over a bit before speaking again. "But…why it happen?" Is my room tv?" He asked somewhere between confused and slightly hopeful.

"No, your room is not tv." She said ruffling his hair. "But…." She sighed. "Kai, I don't understand what was happening, but.." She bit her lip. "Kai, you were causing it." She said apologetically.

The room fell silent.

"Kai, I..I'm not blaming you, but….whatever is happening, you're doing it. Somehow, you made your room look like it was black. I don't.." She was surprised to see him smiling. Not that she didn't want him to, but she was confused at why he would be smiling.

"Daddy!" He shouted happily.

"Daddy? Kai….you know that." Starling knew that despite being very young, Kai was very much aware of what was happening around him. As bad as it might sound, she had silently hoped that he had a basic understanding of what death was. That was one of the few places she drew the line with his mother. She might be his sitter, and she was his best friend, but his mother was still responsible for explaining _some_ things.

"Daddy did it daddy did it!" He said jumping on the bed laughing.

"Kai….Kai, your father…" She swallowed a lump in her throat, but before she could continue, Kai landed in front of her.

"Daddy did it to make boo boos go away!" He said smiling brightly.

"_Boo boo's? Kai hasn't been hurt in weeks, not that I know of anyway."_ She thought.

"Daddy made mommy's hair white too!" He said now laughing even louder.

"_Made his mother's hair turn white? She's not even here. How would he know that…."_ Starling's eyes widened with understanding._ "His father _used_ to do something like this before he died. But what? And how?"_

Now understanding what her friend meant, she asked him what exactly he meant. "Kai, what _did_ your father do to make boo boo's go away?" She asked carefully.

Kai was quiet for a few moments, his eyes closed in thought. "Daddy make mommy's hair white, daddy make wall's yellow, daddy make shark in pool." He counted off on his fingers before a huge grin spread across his face. "Daddy make house look like big cookie!" He said falling over laughing.

"_He said that his daddy made things look different….magic? No, there's no such thing as magic….a trick? No, that wouldn't explain how Kai was doing it, or how his father somehow made a two story house look like a giant cookie….illusions?"_ Now that made sense. It was not unheard of. She herself remembered going to terra Neon with her parents to see the circus, and she vividly remembered that there was a man in it that was an illusionist. At least that's what her father explained when he caught his daughter trying to fly the next day off their roof.

"Daddy said his daddy did it to!" Kai shouted smiling.

"_Illusions, that's got to be it, it must run in his family."_ Starling smiled.

"Why Star smile?" Kai asked poking her shoulder.

"I'm just happy for you. It's not every day that you find out you have a friend with a rare gift." She said truthfully.

"Ware gift?" He asked.

"Yes, a very rare gift. Kai, there are not a lot of people that can make illusions." She said surprised that the boy didn't know this already.

"Illewshons?" He said slowly.

"Illusions. It's something that you can see, but is not real. Like tv." She said.

"I can make tv!" He said jumping up so fast that he almost fell off the bed.

"I guess, but there are other things you could do with it." Starling replied. It was then that she noticed that Kai looked somewhat sad.

"Why…why did gift hurt?" He asked. His voice had a hurt ring to it.

"Kai, your gift didn't hurt you, not on purpose. You probably did have a nightmare once about falling. Your gift…" Starling had to think carefully. _"How do I explain this to a six year old?"_ "Kai, your gift makes people see what you think. You kept thinking about that nightmare, so your gift kept showing it. Try…try thinking about something you like, or something that's funny." She said encouraging him.

"Like what?" He asked innocently.

Starling thought for a second. "Think about…." She looked around the room for something that he could use for a test. It had to be something simple. _"What would be good for a first test...pizza? No, then he might want some for breakfast…maybe a….a stuffed animal? That would be a good start."_ That's when Starling caught sight of something. Something that she knew Kai liked, and had seen enough that it wouldn't require too much imagination.

She saw his dresser mirror.

"Kai, I want you to close your eyes ok?" When she saw him nod, she continued. "I want you to imagine me. Picture in your mind what I look like, how you see me." She said. It was shooting from the hip, but it should work. She didn't know what made illusions work, but based on what she had seen earlier, it must have had something to do with thought.

At first nothing happened, and then she saw something out of the corner of her eye. Turning around, she came fact to face with herself.

Well…kind of…

It definitely looked a lot like her, but it wasn't her, not by a long shot. For one thing, the her that was currently hovering a few inches from her was an adult, not an eleven year old. If she had to guess, she would say that it looked like it was around nineteen or twenty. The hair was a bit darker, not to mention much longer, almost reaching her hips. But there was one main trait that it had she knew was not her.

It was very, very, well sculpted.

Despite being a bit thin, the illusion had very well defined muscles, and obviously looked like a trained fighter. She couldn't help but look down at her own thin arms and feel a bit self conscious. The one other thing that caught her attention was the face. It looked….strong, determined, even brave. _"Good grief, he makes me look like some kind of Sky Knight."_ She couldn't help but smile inwardly. _"Then again,_ _I did ask him to imagine how _he_ saw me."_

"Kai…" Starling said, more than just a little impressed.

Kai opened his eyes and saw the illusion.

"How I do?" He asked.

"Kai…this is….wow.." Starling got up and walked around the other her. She reached out to touch it but her hand went right through it. _"That's right, it's only an illusion. It's not real."_

"I do good?" He asked slightly worried.

Starling turned to face him. "Kai, you did very well, but, that's not really me. That's not how I really look." She said looking back at the illusion.

"But..you said how I see you." His voice carried a touch of fear Starling noted.

Turning back to her young friend she smiled. "Kai, I…how…is this really how you see me?" She asked still not believing it._ "I don't really look like that, not even close." _She thought.

"Uh hu." Kai said still slightly afraid.

Starling sighed. "Kai, I'm not mad at you, not at all. It's just that…I'm not…I'm not like that. I'm not that strong." She said rolling up her sleeve pointing at her arm.

"Star strong! Star live by herself, Star not need anyone to take care of her." At this point his head drooped. "Star not need a baby sitter."

"_That's what this is about? He thinks he's weak because he needs a sitter and I don't?"_ Things were becoming a bit clearer now. The nightmare he had been having weren't caused by him thinking that he was alone or that everyone had abandoned him, it was that he was helpless, weak, and unable to do anything. And largely it was her fault.

"I'm not as strong as you think I am Kai. I might not need a sitter, but that doesn't mean that I'm strong." She said looking back at the boy with a rueful smile.

"But…if Star not need any one, then Star strong." Kai said sadly.

Starlings smile perked at this. "I don't need a sitter, but that doesn't mean I don't need anyone. Everyone needs other people Kai, nobody's that strong." She saw that he didn't believe her, so she continued. "Kai, when we first met, I needed help."

This caught his attention.

"Star need help?" He asked confused.

Starling nodded. "Yes, I did, and I still do. When I came here, I hadn't had anything to eat in quite a while; I was so hungry that my stomach hurt. You and your _mother_ helped me then, and you still do." Starling gave him a condensed and edited version of the truth. After all, she was trying to help him understand that everyone needed help every now and then, and he was only six. She didn't want to have to explain how a person could actually die from starvation.

"I…I helped Star? He asked, still not quite buying it.

"Yes, you did." She saw the illusion disappear, but when she turned back to Kai she heard a thud.

"Kai? Kai!" Rolling him over, she checked to make sure he was breathing.

_Snore_

Starling was about to give him a light punch for scaring her, but she stopped when she realized the he wasn't faking it, the boy really was out cold.

"_But he was fine just a few minutes ago. The only thing he did was make the illusi. That must be it. Keeping an illusion up like that must drain him, and he hasn't really been getting much sleep lately. I guess it was just too much for him."_ Starling struggled to lift Kai up and put him back on his bed. The irony of him seeing her as strong, and her having such difficulty in moving him was not lost on her.

Pulling the covers over him, she gave him one last smile before heading downstairs. Everything that had happened aside, she still didn't know if he would be able to sleep alone yet. So she made herself as comfortable as she could on the couch, and quickly found herself asleep as well.

End Chapter 5

AN: Well, there you have it. The origins and discovery of Kai's power. Not everything is from the Shadow crystal, he actually does have some skill and ability without it. I wanted to make this as realistic as I could, and I figured that if a little kid had the ability to make illusions, his subconscious would get a hold of it before their imagination would. As for making the illusion of Starlings future self, I don't know where that came from, it just sorta popped into my head, like all my other work. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed reading it, pleas review. Till next time, Ja Ne!


	6. It was all a Dream?

Yesteryears

Yesteryears

Chapter 6 It was all a Dream?

Well, I managed to get some free time this week, and so I took advantage of it. I would have updated sooner, but some idiot ran into a telephone line with a bulldozer across from my house, so I haven't had a working phone line in almost three days! Currently it is (checks clock) 5:30 AM, and I haven't much time, but please accept this massive update as my apology for being absent for the past week. I've been wanting to write this chapter for a while now, but only got around to it now because I wanted to better establish some of Kai's abilities, as well as establish the fact that not ALL of Kai's powers come from the Shadow crystal. Once again I want to thank my little cousins for providing me with living examples of how a little kids mind works. Oh for this chapter Kai is eight and Starling is thirteen. Also, there is an AN at the bottom.

Disclaimer: I do not own Storm Hawks, and never will. They are the property of Asaph "Ace" Fipke and made by Nerd Corps Entertainment, however I DO own Kai, the Shadow crystal and this story.

"Speech"

"_Thought"_

_Sound_

"For the last time Kai, I promise there are no monsters in the water, now get in here now!" Starling shouted as she removed the cloths she was wearing over her bathing suit.

"That's what they say in moves too!" Kai shouted back from behind the tree he was using as both a barrier and hiding spot.

Groaning, Starling wrapped her shirt and shorts in one of the towels she had brought and kicked off her sandals. "Kai, when was the last time I ever did anything to hurt you on purpose?" She asked pinching her nose.

"Last week when you took me to the doctor!" He replied from his 'safe spot'.

"Oh for! Kai! You had a temperature of a hundred and two! If you didn't get that shot then you would have been in real trouble. I'm trying to look out for you, can't you see that?" She asked walking towards the tree line.

"You could have warned me!" He shot back.

"How was I supposed to know? Kia, I'm not a doctor, now please, come here?" She asked as nicely as she could.

"No! And you can't make me!" Kai shouted back.

"Oh I can't can I?" Starling said under her breath as she marched up to the trees.

When Kai didn't hear anything, he thought that he was safe; but, just to be sure, he cast a small illusion around himself to make him invisible. _"She'll never find me now."_ He thought.

Starling reached the tree line and stopped. _"Where did he go? He was here a sec…"_ Starling mentally groaned. "Why can't Kai just be a normal kid for once?"

It was true that she was still, and would always be grateful for her friend. The two had become close friends over the past three years, but sometimes Kai could be….difficult.

He was as stubborn as could be, and though young, he was very smart. In addition to that, he was also very clever, which was unfortunate for her as he only used this skill against her.

Hence her current problem. Kai was eight years old, and yet he still did not know how to swim. Starling herself had been swimming since she had turned six, which was one of the reasons she loved it so much. That was why they were at Lake Mesa, so she could teach him.

"_Hmm how can I get him to come out? Maybe I could bribe him? I don't want to threaten him, and he's gotten pretty good at calling my bluffs."_ Frowning, she decided to try the first option, bribery.

"Kai, if you let me teach you how to swim, I'll let you have pizza for breakfast tomorrow." She said looking around for any hint as to where he might be hiding.

"_Oh, that's low Star, that's just low."_ Kai knew he had to keep quiet though, if he spoke she would find him. Over the past three years, Kai found that he and Starling had developed the uncanny ability to find each other with little to no trouble, more so for him. All he had to do was speak and she could pick him out of a crowed like a single grain of pepper in a salt shaker. This had proved to be valuable on one occasion when they were separated during a raid at the shelter.

But for Kia…it was different. He just knew where she was, always. It was like he could sense her presence, not like someone would 'sense a ghost' or even be aware that they were hungry because of their stomach. It was not a hunch, an instinct, or even a gut feeling, he just knew.

Starling had asked him about it once, but he didn't know how to answer her question, other than, "I just do." This tended to make games of hid and seek easier for him, but nearly impossible for her.

"_He didn't take the bait…ok, new tactic."_ Looking around, Starling shouted. "Well, since he must have left me, I guess I'll just go back home!" She waited and listened, but still no response.

"_Nice try, but I know you wouldn't leave me here."_ Kai thought. If it was one thing he was sure of, it was that Starling would never, for any reason leave him, they were friends after all, and friends always stuck together, even he knew that.

"_Ok, that didn't work either…I'm running out of options here….well….there's always _that_…but…should I? Am I really desperate enough to play_ that_ card?"_ After several minutes of searching, and not finding him, Starling decided to play her trump card, the one surefire way to gain Kai's unwavering and undying cooperation.

Guilt

It was her ultimate weapon that had yet to prove ineffective against him. True it was unfair, but as they say, all's fair in love and war.

"You know Kai." Starling began.

"_Oh no! Not that! Come on Star, you wouldn't use that on me would you?"_ Kai started to panic. Every time she started a sentence with those three words, it meant she was pulling out the big guns.

"You remember how I told you that you saved my life three years ago? How I would have died without your help, how I would have starved, and been alone, without my parents or even a friend? Well if anything was to happen to me, and I fall into the water, and no one was there but you and me." She continued.

"_No! I will not give in, I will not give in, I will not give in, I will not give in, I will not give in, I am strong, I am strong, I AM STRONG!" _Kai repeated the mantra over and over in his head, trying to block out the sound of her voice.

"Well, you wouldn't be able to save me, you would…you would…lose me Kai, I wouldn't be there anymore, and I...I wouldn't have you as a friend anymore." As she said this she sunk to her knees and started to cry. Not full blown out sobbing, but it was still crying.

"_I will….cave in."_ Kai slumped his shoulders and lowered his illusion and walked up to Starling to comfort her. Imagine his surprise when she jumped to her feet and pulled him onto a hug, which was then followed by a nogie.

"When in doubt cry and pout. Works every time on a softy like you." She said forcing her fist deeper into his scalp.

"AHH! Star! That's not fair!" When he finally broke lose of her grip, he shot her his strongest glare, which bounced off her like bullets on Superman. "Where did you even learn to do that?" He asked rubbing his now sore head.

Starling smiled. "I didn't learn it anywhere. It's something that all girls can do, we know how to guilt boys into submission the day we first meet one. So, if you want to blame anyone, blame yourself." She said as she turned back to the water. 'Now come on, I haven't got all day, I expect you to be swimming before sunset." She shouted breaking into a run.

Frowning, Kai chased after her.

"Ok, now, I want you to watch me very carefully alright?" Starling asked as she waded out into the water.

Kai watched as she walked out a bit further, until the water came halfway up her torso, before she turned to face him.

"Ok, first, you need to know how to use your arms." Turning to her side, Starling bent over so her face was just above the water and brought her arm up in front of her. She then slowly dipped it into the water in a downward swinging motion, as soon as it came up again she raised it above her head and back down to where it started.

"See how my arm moves like a windmill? You want to do that with both of your arms, but at different times, like this." She then demonstrated the proper method with both arms for a few seconds.

"That's it?" He asked still a bit unsure.

"Well of course not! You still have to use your legs, but that's the easy part. All you do is kick them as fast and as hard as you can. Watch." She then dove forward a swam back and forth a few times, making sure he saw exactly how she was moving both her arms and legs. After a few minutes she stopped and walked towards the shore with a smile. "Now, it's your turn."

Kai panicked.

"Uh, no thanks, I'll uh…I'll see if I can…What was that mom? Dinners ready? Ok I'll be there in a second!" As Kai turned to make a break for it he felt a pair of arms wrap around him and hoist him up.

"AHHH! Star! Put me down! Put me down now!" Kai shouted.

"Bad choice of words friend." She replied with a grin.

Looking down, Kai saw that she was carrying him into the water, kicking and screaming, it made no difference.

After about six months of babysitting, Starling's frail and thin frame started returning to its original form. Her skin tone improved to the point that she was no longer white as snow, and she thickened up a bit. She was still thin and pale, but not unhealthily so. This was of course thanks to actually having food to eat. However, as a result of the two's quarreling and rather rough playing, she had also become quite strong.

Once they were out to where the water came up to her navel, she released him.

_Splash_

Kai jumped up like someone had poked him in the rear.

"COLD!" Kai then glared at Starling as his teeth chattered and he started to shiver. "If I get sick, I'll!" Before he could finish, Starling cut him off.

"You'll lie on the couch and watch cartoons while I shove chicken noodle soup down your throat all the while demanding that I fluff your pillow." She replied rolling her eyes.

Kai settled for a glare knowing it was the truth, but not wanting to admit it.

"Come on now, give it a try." She then said reassuringly.

Still unsure, Kai stood perfectly still.

"Oh for the love of!" Starling pinched the bridge of her nose again and sighed. "Ok, baby steps Starling." She said under her breath. "Let's start with treading ok?"

Kai didn't move, he just stood with his arms crossed.

Starling lowered herself into the water and started to tread. "See? It's not that hard. All you have to do is move your arms back and forth like this and kick your legs like a pair of scissors." She said moving closer to him so he could see her arms.

Kai watched with mild interest, still not liking that he had been dragged out into the water.

"Now you try, please?" She asked smiling.

"_Grrrr why is it I always wind up doing whatever she wants in the end? Is it too much to ask that I win just one time? Just once?"_ Kai lowered himself into the water and tried to copy what he had seen he do, but he started sinking, which caused him to panic.

Right when he was about to scream he felt two arms reach under his and pull him back up.

"The waters not that deep Kai, it's not even enough to cover your eyes if you stood up." She replied.

Kai looked a bit upset, but quickly calmed down when he felt his feet touch the bottom.

"Lets try a different approach, I'm going to." Both Starling and Kai froze.

_Air raid siren_

"No. No not now! Kai hurry!" Starling rushed to the shore with Kai not far behind.

They were in trouble, big time. They were almost thirty minutes away from Mesa's town, too far to make it in time to a shelter. All they could do was try and hide as best they could out in the woods.

Starling grabbed their towels and the two headed deeper into the woods, further away from where the attack would likely occur.

"Star…are..we" Kai was cut off.

"Shhh, Kai we have to stay quiet." She replied in a strained voice. She, like Kai was scared, but she knew that she couldn't let it show, she had to be strong, for both him and herself.

They stopped when they came across a small grotto. The water didn't look too deep, but there was a cave at the bottom that they could see. Just when they were about to climb down it, they were spotted.

"Well well well, what have we here?"

Starling and Kai froze, but only she turned to look behind them.

Standing almost three times there height, and over ten times their mass was a raptor, armed with a crystal spear.

"Never expected to find anyone out this far, guess it wasn't a bad thing to get shot down after all." He said making his way towards them.

Watching him approach, Starling realized that he hadn't seen Kai yet, only her. So, she turned to face him and charged, hoping that he wouldn't see Kai, and would focus on her.

"KEEYA!" Charging the giant, she hit him as hard as she could in the stomach, but only succeeded in hurting her own hand.

"HAHAHA! You actually thought that you could hurt me?" The raptor nearly fell over laughing.

Starling gritted her teeth and hit again and again, poring out her rage, her grief, and her guilt over the loss of her parents.

Kai, meanwhile, had cloaked as a reflex. Ever since he figured out how to use his gift, he had started using it without thinking. When he was afraid, or sad it would activate on its own, cloaking him from sight. Starling had told him that he needed to learn how to control it or else he might get hurt one day, but for right now, he was thankful.

"Enough of this!" The raptor reached down and grabbed Starling by one arm and lifted her like a rag doll. Licking his teeth, the raptor grinned. "Not much of a meal, but you'll make a fine appetizer." He said throwing her over his shoulder.

Starling froze. It was like a bad dream, it had to be. Her mind refused to believe that this was it.

Kai watched as the raptor turned to leave, and was fighting his own battle internally.

"_So that's it? You're just going to sit there and watch?"_ One part of him asked.

"_What else can I do? I'm just a little kid? He's a monster!"_ Another part reasoned.

"_No he's not! He's an animal! If you don't do anything, if you don't even try, you're even worse than he is."_ The other part shot back.

"_But…what can I do? He's so much bigger than me? I can't fight that thing!"_ The cowardly part replied.

"_Then don't fight him! You don't have to fight him; you just have to get Star away from him!"_ The other part growled.

"_How would I do that? It's not like he would let her go if I asked nicely."_ The coward called back.

"_Come on! You can make ANYTHING appear! You can scare him off, or scare him into letting her go!"_

Kai looked up, and watched as the raptor got further and further away. He didn't need a second more, he made his decision.

Closing his eyes, Kai tried to think of something that would scare a raptor, one of the top hunters in all of Atmos, but he couldn't come up with anything. All he could feel was his own fear, his fear of losing his friend. Opening his eyes, Kai set his face in stone and charged, he knew what to do.

"Put her down now."

The raptor stopped at hearing the voice, and turned to face its source.

"Well, now you might be a bit more than an appetizer." The raptor grinned.

Standing before him was what appeared to be a young adult male, probably in his mid twenties. He had long black hair that reached well past his shoulders and blazing blue eyes. But what caught the raptors attention most was the silver and purple insignia on his shoulders.

"So, you're a new recruit of the Interceptors? Hmm shame you'll never get a second mission." The raptor pulled his spear out and activated it with a wicked grin.

The young man made no movement; he didn't draw a weapon or even respond, he just stood there.

While this was happening, Kai was on his knees, both hands wrapped around his head, trying to force back the headache that came from overusing his illusion ability. Making an image of an adult was one thing, but what he was doing now was bigger than anything he had ever done before, bigger than anything his father had ever done before. _"I just hope this works."_ He thought.

The man narrowed his eyes at the raptor. I said put her down now." He replied once again.

"Or you'll what? I have no intention of handing over this little snack." He hefted his should once causing Starling to bounce. Her face was still frozen in shock though, and she gave no reply.

"You leave me no choice then. As guardian of this forest, I will destroy you." The man replied. He took a few steps toward the raptor, and then reached out with one hand, touching a nearby tree. As soon as he did, the tree began to disappear, almost melt away.

This caused the raptors eyes to bulge.

Though very, very rare, it was not completely unheard of for there to be extremely powerful creatures or beings on certain terras. This particular raptor had never believed the old myths to be true, at least, never before.

The raptor turned to move, but saw several trees shoot up from the ground, blocking his exit. Turning to look back, he saw that the young man was gone.

"You are in my forest, here; you have no chance to escape."

The voice almost seemed to be carried in the wind, coming from all directions at the same time.

"Show yourself coward!" The raptor shouted.

"I'm right here." The voice came from right behind him.

Turning, the raptor slashed, but hit a tree. He then watched in awe as vines started to crawl up the tree and wrap around his weapon, then reach up for his hand.

Immediately he let go of the weapon and watched as what looked like a mouth opened and actually swallowed his short spear.

"Forget this! You want her? Take her!" The raptor threw Starling like she was a ticking time bomb and ran.

Kai watched in horror as Starling flew by him and into the grotto.

"Star!" No longer caring about the illusions, Kai dropped them and ran as fast as he could. Looking down, he saw her crumpled at the bottom in the water, lying on her side. Kai dropped down on his butt and slid down the rocks and landed in the water, not caring about the cuts and bruises that covered his arms, legs and back, only caring about his friend.

When he reached her, he turned her over, and was relieved to see that she wasn't too banged up. She had a bump on her head, and a few cuts, but aside from that, she was fine. Kai looked around and quickly spied their towels on some rocks close by. Kai put one of Starling's arms around his shoulder and half carried half dragged her to the rocks. It wasn't much, but it was better than being in the freezing cold knee deep water.

Unraveling the towels, he spread one out, and put on the spare cloths that had been packed over his swim trunks. He then pulled Starling so that she was on the towel, and dried her as best he could. He had looked around for her cloths, but they were missing, apparently having fallen somewhere into the water. Knowing that it would be getting cold soon, he got down as close as he could, and pulled the second towel over them like a blanket, and wrapped both of them up as best he could.

Minutes passed, then minutes became hours. Before long the sun started to set and Kai got worried. He could feel Starling breathing against his back, but she was still cold, and she hadn't spoken yet. Turning around, he saw that he eyes were closed, that she was sleeping, or so he hoped.

Suddenly he felt a jolt, and then heard crying.

"Star? Star are you ok?" He asked carefully.

Her eyes opened, and she looked up at Kai. Her eyes seemed dull, lifeless almost. "I'm sorry Kai…I'm sorry." Was all that she said.

"_Sorry? Why would she be sorry?"_ Looking at his friend, Kai reached down and wiped away the evil tear that dared to touch her. "Why are you sorry?" He asked.

Still crying, Starling answered. "I'm sorry that…I'm sorry that I couldn't protect you." She replied.

"_She must be upset…but…how can I…"_ An idea formed in Kai's head, it would be tricky, and would require his best performance, but he was positive that he could fix this.

"Protect me? Protect me from what?" Kai asked looking puzzled.

Starling looked up at him like he had called her a fool.

"From the raptor! What did you think I meant? I'm supposed to protect you Kai, and, and you had to help me." Her voice was equal parts anger and grief.

Kai knew now that he had to make this work.

"Starling, what raptor? What are you talking about? I haven't seen a raptor in almost a year." Kai's face looked genuinely confused.

"Kai, I'm not stupid. The raptor that was….that was going to eat me." She said looking down.

"Starling, there was no raptor. We ran when we heard the siren remember? You tripped and fell down here and used me for a bobsled." As if to prove his point, Kai got up turned around and lifted the back of his shirt to show the cuts and scrapes going down his back. Lowering it he turned back to face her. "You did hit your head pretty hard though when we landed."

At this Starling reached up and felt her head, sure enough there was a rather large bruise forming and she winced in pain when her fingers brushed against it.

"_Was all that…no it couldn't be…no way that I could have dreamt that up."_ Part of her believed it, another part of her wanted to believe it. But some things just weren't adding up

"If that's true, then way are your arms scratched up as well? And it's not hard for me to tell that you're exhausted, so you must have been using your illusions, explain that." She replied scrutinizing his every movement, looking for any evidence to support either argument.

"Hmm why would my arms be scratched up? Could it be that I tried to climb out of here while you were napping? You are right about my illusions though. I've been cloaking us for the past few hours, so I am a bit tired." He said yawning.

More and more was starting to pile up that what had happened was indeed nothing more than a pain induced nightmare. But the voice, the words, she could still hear them in the back of her mind; they refused to just go away.

Seeing that she still wasn't quit buying it, Kai played his last card. "Star, what do I have to gain by lying to you? If anything, it sounds like in your dream I protected you or something. If I had, don't you think I would have been bragging about it or something? You're always the one saving my butt, not the other way around remember? Well…except from my mom." He amended.

Starling got up and pulled him close to her, so that their noses were almost touching.

"Kai, tell me, honestly. Did you fight a raptor in any way shape or form?" Her eyes focused on his, to see if he was lying.

"No, I did not fight a raptor in any way shape or form." Kai replied honestly. _"I scared the scales off one though."_

Starling could see no trace of him lying, so moved away from Kai and got up.

"Can we get out of here now? You said I could have pizza if I took your stupid lessons remember?" Kai whined.

Rolling her eyes, Starling sighed. "I said if you learned how to swim, you still can't even tread yet." She replied looking at the wall of rock.

"We can climb up over here." She said pointing at a slightly less step rock face.

After the two got out of the hole, the started back towards Kai's house.

"_Oh no!"_ Thinking fast, Kai twisted his towel into a rat's tail and let it lose on Starling.

"EEP!" Starling jumped when she felt the stinging sensation on her backside and turned to glare at Kai. "What was that for!?" She demanded.

"Last one to the house has to take the cold shower!" He shouted as he ran by her at full speed laughing.

"_Cold shower? What is he? OH NO! I forgot that the water heaters out again!"_ Starling tore down the path after Kai, intent on being the one who got the warm shower of the day.

She was so focused on that one goal, that she failed to notice the still active raptor spear imbedded in a nearby tree.

End chapter 6

AN: Well? How was it? I'm still trying to explain the full scope of Kai's powers, and establish the bond he shares with Starling that is so prevalent in Broken Wing. Also before anyone complains that a little kid would never do something like this, I have plenty of evidence and examples on my side to prove that they would. Little kids have a very different mindset than adults do, and allow their emotions to dictate their actions rather than any form of logic. In this case, Kai's desire to protect his friend overrode all else. Oh, and the 'young man' was not Kai as an adult. His desire was to protect his friend, so he imagined the one person he thought could, his father.


	7. Sick Day!

Yesteryears

Chapter 7 Sick Day!

Ok, I know that I said I would work on my other stories for awhile, but I haven't had time to actually write anything serious. At the same time, I wanted to assure my fans, (all four of them) that I am in fact still alive and breathing. Chapter 12 of TDT is about one forth complete and Winds of Change chapter 15 will be up when I editor allows me to post it….you'll understand why when you read it. I wish I could tell you all that I will resume my usually three to four a week updates soon, but the truth is, I don't think I will be able to do more than one a week for a while, this week has been murder, and I haven't a clue as to what next week will be. So, sit back and enjoy this continuation of last chapter. Once again I want to thank my little cousins for providing me with living examples of how a little kids mind works. In this chapter Kai is eight and Starling is thirteen.

Disclaimer: I do not own Storm Hawks, and never will. They are the property of Asaph "Ace" Fipke and made by Nerd Corps Entertainment, however I DO own Kai, the Shadow crystal and this story.

"Speech"

"_Thought"_

_Sound_

The mighty warrior saved the damsel in distress.

The mighty warrior drove off the large man…errr girl eating lizard with a combination of intelligence and bravery.

The mighty warrior, out of concern for his closest friends state of mind, lied about the whole incident and made her think it was nothing more than a concussion induced nightmare.

_AAAAAAAAAAAACHOOOOOOOOOO!_

And as thanks for his brave and kind deed, the mighty warrior had to take a cold shower when they returned because he had lost the race.

"_Why is it I had on normal clothes the whole time, and I got sick? Star was in a bathing suite the ENTIRE TIME! And she didn't even get the sniffles!"_

_AHH…AHHH…AAHHH…_

"Glab thab bon bent awaby." Kai said holding one hand over his eyes trying to block out the lights.

_AAAAAAACHOOOOOOOOOOOO!_

In a word, Kai was miserable.

Two days ago was the….incident, as Kai had taken to calling it. After the quick race to the house, Kai was forced to stand in cold wet clothesfor close to twenty minutes while Starling was in the bathroom. When she finally emerged he pushed her out of the way and dashed for the shower, hoping and praying that she had saved some of the hot water. What he saw mad him want to cry.

The tub was empty, but there was a coating of bubbles around the rim. This meant only one thing.

"_She didn't shower! She took a bubble bath!"_ Kai thought grinding his teeth.

Starling came out of the kitchen with a small tray, and smiled apologetically. "Well Kai, I'm sorry to say that your mother was out of chicken noodle, but she did still have soup." She said sitting down beside him.

Looking up with blurry eyes, he glared. "Bhat mind bove zoup bib be bave?" He asked.

Starling grimaced. "Just lie back, and close your eyes." She responded.

That sent off warning bells in his mind.

Kai knew that Starling, as good of a friend as she was, had less than 'par' skills when it came to certain aspects of life. Cooking was the foremost of these. At best it could be described as a crime against nature, and the Geneva Convention.

The fact that she didn't tell him what kind of soup it was though told him something else entirely.

"_What ever it is, she known's I wouldn't eat it if my own mother made it."_ Kai shook his head.

"Bile bass." He replied.

"Kai, you need to eat, you haven't ate anything since yesterdays breakfast. You need to eat." She said getting up and sitting on the table beside him.

Kai looked up at her, and turned the other way. "Bot bungry."

Sighing, Starling tried to be diplomatic. "Please Kai, for me? I'm sorry I took up all the hot water, next time I'll let you have it ok?" She asked hopefully.

Kai remained still.

"Ok then, forget democracy, time for the dictatorship approach." She muttered under her breath. "Kai, if you don't eat this soup, I wont let you watch TV for the next month." She said firmly.

Kai rolled over to face her. "Bou bont bave bhe butt's"

Silence

"I don't do I?" Starling said between gritted teeth.

"_Crud, why did I have to go and make her mad? I'm too weak to fight back, and my illusions don't work on her."_ Kai thought.

He tried (keyword, tried) to get up and away, but it was not to be.

Starling pushed him back down with one arm and held him. "You're going to eat this soup and your going to like it brat!" She said narrowing her eyes.

Kai glared right back at her.

Though she was immune to his illusions, he had picked up his own little bit and was equally immune to her glares.

Getting up, she threw one leg over him and climbed on top of him, straddling his midsection. When he tried to get away again, she held him down with one hand in the center of his chest.

"Oh no, your not going anywhere till you eat every last spoonful." Reaching with her free hand, she grabbed the bowl off the tray, and scooted forward a bit more.

Stirring the bowls contents, she held it up under his chin and lifted the spoon to his mouth.

"Eat."

Kai glared, but kept his mouth shut.

Seeing that he wasn't going to willingly open his mouth, Starling decided a different approach.

She set the bowl down under his chin and held the full spoon up in one hand.

With the other hand, she grabbed his nose.

After a few seconds, Kai's face turned bright red, then blue, and then.

"PAAA! AAHHHH!"

Kai had to open his mouth to breath, and when he did so, the spoon followed, dumping its foul contents down his throat.

Kai tried to scream, but when he did another spoonful followed.

Kai was not weak, for an eight year old, he was surprisingly strong. Most likely from fighting and wrestling with Starling, but in his current situation he was powerless. She was sitting too far up on his chest for him to kick her in any way, and his arms were pinned by her legs. The only thing he could move was his head.

"_I could try to hit the bowl, but then it would get all over me, and the couch…and mom would get mad and blame Star…dang….theirs got to be something I can do! This isn't fare!"_ His mind shouted. Slumping his head in defeat, he allowed spoonful after spoonful into his mouth, and could feel his stomach clinching in fright, trying to move all the bowels contents to one side and not digest it.

"_Man, even my stomach is afraid of the stuff."_ Kai thought.

When the bowl was empty, Starling got off of him and wiped his chin with a paper towel. "There, that wasn't so bad was it?" She asked warmly.

"_Yes! Yes it was! I didn't see you eating any!"_ He screamed inside his head. On the outside he just groaned and turned over, trying to get comfortable, something that had been an impossible feat as of late.

He had both a fever and the chills, so for one minute he would be burning up, but the next he was freezing cold. He was never comfortable and to make matters worse moving, even just a little made the room spin. All he could do was lay there and moan.

Reaching out for a tissue, he blew for the millionth time, crumpled it, and dropped it into the small trash can that was beside the couch. He couldn't help but wonder where all the stuff was coming from. He had gone through three boxes of tissues, and he knew that he would go through more before he was well. _"Man, I've blown my weight in snot, where does it keep coming from?" _Kai found that yelling inside his head had the same effect as yelling for real, it made his headache worse, so he was reduced to whispering in his own head, something that he found slightly creepy.

There weren't any bonuses or benefits to him being sick either. He didn't go to school, so he wasn't getting out of that. He didn't have his own personal nurse or caretaker, since he already had Starling there to take care of him. All in all, it tanked. He was miserable, plain and simple.

Groaning, he rolled his head back again. He kept his eyes close since it helped keep him from getting dizzy, but he hated just laying there doing nothing.

After breaking into a series of coughs, he heard footsteps approach him. _"Oh no, she found another can of that stuff. She must be here to finish me off."_ Kai thought.

He was surprised to feel something warm and wet move across his face.

"Poor thing." He head Starling's voice.

It took his fried brain awhile to figure out what was going on, but he soon realized that she was washing him off with a rag. Not exactly a bath, just his face, arms and chest. Being confined to bed for two days meant that was unable to do anything, include bathe. He counted his lucky stars that at the very least he was able to go to the bathroom on his own. But aside from that, nothing. Moaning, he rolled over onto his stomach, and as best he could, motioned to his back.

He head sloshing, followed by water poring and figured she must be rinsing out the wash cloth in a bowl and was twisting most of the water out.

A few seconds passed and he felt the warm wet cloth moved across his back to his shoulders. He relaxed a bit, letting the gentle motions lull him to sleep. He still felt like crud, but at least he was a bit more comfortable now.

He felt Starlings presence get closer, and heard her voice whisper in his ear.

"I'll go start up some more soup, you stay right her ok?"

His eyes snapped open.

End Chapter 7

Short I know, but I didn't want to drag this one out. I felt that this was a good place to stop it.


	8. Warmth Part I

Yesteryears

Chapter 8 Warmth Part I

Ok, it's been awhile since I worked on this one, I know. But, this is my way of proving that none of my work is dead, just on the back burner for now. I've got a few too many pans in the fire right now, but I'm trying my best at juggling them. This chapter comes from my very recent experience of being sick as a dog, and being forced to learn that sometimes you need to suck up your pride, and go see the doctor lol. You'll get well a lot quicker, and wont have quite as many nasty cold medicines to drink down *BLECK* Oh, and once again I want to thank my little cousins for providing me with living examples of how a little kids mind works. In this chapter Kai is eight and Starling is thirteen.

Disclaimer: I do not own Storm Hawks, and never will. They are the property of Asaph "Ace" Fipke and made by Nerd Corps Entertainment, however I DO own Kai, the Shadow crystal and this story.

"Speech"

"_Thought"_

_Sound_

Kai was grinning like a sky shark.

A few moments ago Starling had called to tell him that she would be unable to come over today since she was sick.

Yes, Kai had decided that all good things did indeed come to those that waited. He had not forgotten about the events of last month, nor did he think he ever would. Starling had taken care of him to the best of her abilities, and for that he would always be grateful. She had stayed by his side, tried to keep him warm, even read to him so he could go back to sleep. There had been only one problem, one little thing that had bothered him.

The soup.

Oh how he had suffered under his friends so called cooking.

It had been five long days that he had suffered. Five days of eating what he had discovered to be mushroom and green pea soup.

"_What idiot even came up with something like that?"_ Kai thought as he locked the door to his house.

"It wouldn't be right for me not to try and help her," Kai said grinning. "After everything she did for me, how could I not help her in a time of need?"

His grin got larger.

"And she IS my best friend, so it's only natural that I would want to help her."

Somewhere in the background he heard lightning crackle as he laughed.

Aside from that, Kai was actually looking forward to seeing where it was that she lived. He couldn't understand why it was that despite knowing her for close to three years, she had never once allowed him inside her home.

"_She just about lives in mine. I wonder why she doesn't just move in with us? She already spends almost every day with me….oh, that's right…mom…"_

That was another thing he couldn't understand. The two were actually quite a bit a like as far as he could tell. The only difference between them were age and hair color, but aside from that, they were both very much similar. Yet, they got along about as well as fire on a house. To avoid arguing, they would simply ignore the other until one would leave.

Looking back down at the tiny slip of paper, Kai checked the address to make sure it was right.

He had asked Starling where she lived in the past, but she flat out refused to tell him. So, he looked it up. Terra Messa was not exactly the most populated Terra around, but it did get mail delivery. So, going through his dads old records, Kai managed to find where Starling's family lived.

Well, just Starling now unfortunately.

That was another thing. They talked about many different things, but family seemed to be an unwritten taboo between them. He didn't ask about her parents, she wouldn't ask about his father.

But, he was starting to get a bit curious. She at least knew his fathers name, and what he did, but he didn't know a single thing about her parents.

Reaching the street that was listed, Kai double checked the address, and saw that it was nearby.

"Thirty two eighty, thirty two eighty two….thirty two eighty four, bingo." Kai grinned when he saw the address on the mail box.

That grin however filtered when he saw the house.

It wasn't exactly a 'dump' but it looked like it looked like Father Time had taken a baseball bat to it….for an entire season.

Walking up the stairs carefully, Kai tried to open the door, but unsurprisingly found that it was locked.

"_Huh, wonder why it's locked? She must still be in bed."_

Looking around the house, Kai found that the windows were shut tight and locked as well.

Frowning, Kai mulled over what he could do.

"_I shouldn't wake her up if she's sick, not just to bug her anyway. I could break a window, but then she'd kick my butt then I'd get in trouble….I could…pick the lock?"_

It was true that Kai had picked up a few odd talents from his friend, with lock picking being one of them. He didn't know why she taught him that particular skill, nor why she insisted that he learn how to start a fire without crystals or even matches, or how to stitch, she just did.

Pulling the pick she had given him from his coat pocket, Kai checked to make sure the coast was clear.

_Click_

_Click_

_Click_

_Pop_

Grinning, Kai put away his pick and carefully opened the door before sliding inside, shutting it, and locking it behind him.

"_Man its cold, I hate March,"_ Kai thought with a shudder. Not that Messa ever got snow, but it did get fairly cold in the early months of the year. March was especially nasty since it was a very rainy month too.

Cold plus wet equaled sick.

Turning around, Kai's face went from grinning to confusion.

"_What the? Where is everything?"_

Sure enough, the place was empty. No furniture, no pictures, nothing really. Just a cold and empty house.

"_Well, dad's records are a few years old, maybe she moved since then? No, that can be right. She wouldn't move out of her parent's house, she said she had to fight tooth claw and nail to keep it. Maybe she's staying over at someone else's place while she's sick?"_

That helped explain a bit more, but not the missing furniture. Sick or no, nobody took their furniture with them.

About to leave, Kai heard something upstairs. It wasn't very loud, but it was still there.

"_What was that?_

Listening closely, Kai heard it again.

"_Maybe an animal got in here or something?"_

Not having anything else to do for the day, Kai figured he might as well take a peek.

Moving as quietly as he could up the creaky old stairs, Kai made his way up. Again, he heard the sound, but still couldn't make out what it was.

"_It almost sounds like…coughing,"_ he thought when he reached the top of the stairs.

Narrowing his eyes in concentration, Kai heard the sound again. It seemed to be coming from the end of the hallway.

Reaching the door, Kai put his ear against it.

_Cough cough cough_

Slowly, Kai opened the door and peeked in with one eye before feeling something in the pit of his stomach drop.

The room looked a lot like the rest of the house. Pretty much empty, almost like it had been abandoned.

But in the middle of the room was a single bed about half the size of his.

He couldn't see much, but he was sure that he saw a thin arm reach out for a moment.

"_No, she can't live in a place like this…nobody could,"_ Kai thought as the room seemed to get even colder.

Slowly, ever so slowly, he made his way across the floor to the single bed.

Sure enough, he was able to make out a bit of purple in the center move around slightly.

"Star…ling?"

The movement stopped completely.

"Star…are you in here?"

No response

Oddly enough, he felt both angry and hurt that she didn't say anything to him. He didn't know how he knew she was there, he just did.

Moving forward to the bed, Kai saw a lump in the middle of the bed, and what looked like a furry purple snake on the pillow (her ponytail). Reaching forward, Kai pulled the cover back slowly until something seemed to have caught it.

"Kai….go…home…now."

"Star? What's going on, why are you in here?"

"Kai, I told _cough cough cough_."

The little boy frowned. Her cough almost sounded like a dog's bark, a sound he knew all to well.

"Star, you ok?"

No response.

"Come on Star, you can't stay in here if your that sick. Come on," Kai said as he pushed the lump in the middle.

"Go….home…" The voice said weakly.

"No."

The covers pulled back to reveal a disheveled, puffy, and very much annoyed Starling.

"What?"

Kai crossed his arms, taking the stance she would always use if he tried to get out of something.

"I said no. You're sick, not deaf Star. Come on, let's get you out of here."

Trying to pull the covers back, Kai was surprised at how strong the obviously sick girl was.

"Go? Kai, I'm _cough cough_ sick, I can't go outside to play."

Kai felt his jaw drop.

"I don't mean to play! Star, you can't stay here. This place is as cold as a fridge! You're just going to get worst if you don't get out of here."

The purplenette shot him an annoyed look.

"Oh? And just where _couch_ do you _cough_ think I can go?"

"To my house." Kai said slowly.

Silence

Rolling on her said to face away from him, Starling pulled the covers back up.

"Go home Kai."

"_What is her problem? I'm just trying to help!"_

Running over his options, Kai let out a frustrated growl.

"If you're going to be stubborn, then fine. I didn't want to do this, but you leave me with no choice," Kai said before storming off.

Starling felt several tears fall from her eyes.

"_I didn't want him to see me like this….I didn't…."_ The fire burning in her head suddenly got worse. She hadn't been able to sleep in two days, meaning she had little energy. She had been so weak she hadn't even had a chance to fix something to eat.

No food, no sleep, and sick were a dangerous recipe.

Feeling her eyes flutter, she tried to stay awake, but it was just too much. Everything went black, but she could have sworn that she heard footsteps echoing around her.

Warm

That was the only way she could describe it.

At first she had felt a stinging sensation across her entire body, but now, now she felt warm, and oddly safe.

"..?"

"_Wha…. Was…that?"_

"..ng, .ak. p."

"_What is that? Nooo go away. I'm warm now, I just want to sleep."_

She felt something behind her head move, like it was pushing her up, so she tried to open her eyes.

What she saw was something red hovering above her, red and gold, but something black moved in front of it, blocking the first object from her view.

She felt something move around her, then something leg go of her before suddenly feeling much colder.

"Hu..y u. K.i . ne.d," then everything went black again.

"!"

Again, she felt the same warmth she had earlier, only now it seemed to be much closer than it had the first time. At the same time, she felt like she was being squeezed by something.

But none of that mattered. All that mattered to her right now was the heat she could feel wrapping around her like a giant's hand.

Some time passed after that. She wasn't sure how long, but she felt something shake her shoulder and pull her onto her back.

"Starling, you need to wake up."

"_Mom?"_

Trying as hard as she could, Starling managed to open her eyes for a brief moment. Everything was bleary, but she could make out two shapes moving above her. One was much closer and looked like it was sitting, while the other one seemed to be hovering above her.

"Mom…is…that…you?" She asked weakly.

The figure above her, while at first seeming to have raven colored hair, moved lower towards her. In a flash, the dark purple hair turned into a shining coppery color.

"No, I'm sorry Starling, but you need to sit up for a minute, then you can go back to sleep ok?"

Disappointment flooded her sense before she felt something grab the bottom of her mouth and pull it open, followed by a vile taste she could never hope to describe.

_Cough cough _

"What…was…"

_Shusshh_ "Go back to sleep Starling. We'll talk about this when you wake up," the voice from earlier said soothingly.

Drifting back into the realm of dreams, she became aware of that same warmth moving around her again, and though she couldn't swear by it, she thought she heard a light chuckle from somewhere close by.

Eyes flashing open, Starling tried to bolt up, but found herself restrained by something.

"_What happened? Was it the Raptors? The Murks? They must have drugged me, it must have been them, where am I?"_

Panicking, Starling felt her breathing speed up and sweat from across her face.

"_If I'm lucky they'll just eat me."_

The oddly warm restraints around her midsection seemed to tighten as her breathing became more and more rapid.

"Star…."

Breath hitching, Starling moved her head to the side slowly.

There, on the same pillow, no more than a few inches away from her was a familiar face.

"_Did they capture Kai too? What happened?"_

A small light flickered beside her.

"So you finally woke up?"

Stiffening, Starling did her best to keep her composure. If Kai was here, it was her responsibility to keep him safe.

"You gave us quite a scare the other day. We didn't think you'd break the fever, but if you made it this far, you should be fine."

"_What is she…she? I know that voice…but from where?"_

"Thought for sure you'd be joining your parents before dawn broke, but I guess something was holding on to you."

_Dry chuckle_

"Go back to sleep, you're safe now. But next time you're sick, don't push yourself like this," the voice said before turning the light off.

Again, she tried to move, but found herself restrained. Moving her arms as much as she could, she found the 'restraints' to be a pair of arms around her midsection.

Looking down at how close Kai's face was, it didn't take long for her to put two and two together.

"_He's holding onto me? Why? What's going on here?"_

After several minutes of wiggiling, she managed to free her right arm, but was surprised when the young boys grip rose a bit, then tightened around her.

"_Good grief, no more meat for you boy, you're crushing me,"_ Starling thought painfully.

Her free arm hung limply for a few minutes, but since it was out from under that quilt currently covering her, it quickly became cold.

Sighing, she pushed it under the quilt and around her young friend.

"_At least it's warm here,"_ she thought idly.

End chapter.

AN: Yeah, seriously, if you're sick, don't push it. I had a head cold and the flu…afew days passed and I got a chest cold added to it, not pretty, lots of NiQuil, lots of Dimatap, not much sleep. Just lots and lots tissues and oatmeal (bleck) and a few popsicles. I'll have the second part up sometime hopefully soon.

Till next time, Ja Ne!


	9. Warmth Part II

Yesteryears

Chapter 9 Warmth Part II

Ok, this is the second half of the 'Warmth Arc'. It mainly clears up what happened last time and serves to further show the depth of Starling and Kai's friendship. That might seem strange given how distant they seem to be in WOC, but there is a reason for that which will be explored later (in WOC, not here). In this chapter Kai is eight and Starling is thirteen.

Disclaimer: I do not own Storm Hawks, and never will. They are the property of Asaph "Ace" Fipke and made by Nerd Corps Entertainment, however I DO own Kai, the Shadow crystal and this story.

"Speech"

"_Thought"_

_Sound_

Morning had come several hours after Starling had woken up. She wasn't sure how long she had been there, or how long she had been asleep. But judging by the fact that she didn't feel the least bit tired, and that she actually felt halfway rested, she knew that she must have been out for a while.

For the last several hours she had been 'held prisoner' by her young friend. Unable to move; let alone get away, she had resigned herself to her 'fate' and waited for him to wake up.

"_Come on Kia, WAKE UP NOW!"_

Of course that didn't stop her from trying to wake the boy by mentally screaming at him.

There were just too many things not adding up here, and she wanted answers.

"_How did I get here in the first place? The last thing I remember was Kai…finding my home,"_ Starling thought sadly.

It was one of the few things she kept from him. She knew it was silly, and she couldn't for the life of her figure out why it mattered, but she was genuinely worried about what he would think of her if he saw where she lived.

Now that he knew, and had seen where she lived, that fear had become much stronger.

Starling flinched when his grip around her tightened again, snapping her thoughts away from the dark cloud that had filled them for the moment.

"_I forgot that he's grabby in his sleep,"_ she thought to herself as she recalled back before his 'nightmares' had been cured. It hadn't been a problem back then though.

Of course, back then he wasn't quite as strong either.

Still, it wasn't like he was really hurting her. Far from it actually. His grip, though very tight, was not constricting her breathing in the slightest, nor was he holding her in a way that was uncomfortable or painful. She was, oddly enough, comfortable.

Pulling herself a little closer to him, she smiled at feeling his warmth.

For several days she had been stuck in her room, sick, hungry, and freezing her butt off. And while she was still hungry, she could tell that she was no longer sick, and she was definitely no longer cold, and for that she was eternally grateful.

"Making yourself comfortable?"

Starling jumped at hearing the voice, but was unable to see its source until she heard footsteps move around the bed to Kai's side.

Looking up, she caught sight of a familiar head of coppery gold colored hair as its owner knelt down behind Kai.

"I asked you a question."

Swallowing the lump in her throat, Starling was about to try and push Kai away when his grip tightened around her again.

This did not go unmissed by the rooms other occupant however, as Starling could see the woman's eyes focus on the lump that went around her side.

"I…was cold mam. As you can see, it's not like I can move very much until he wakes up," Starling replied quietly so as not to awake the boy.

"I can see that."

Starling waited for the woman to continue uneasily. She and Kai's mother didn't exactly get along very well, but for the moment, she seemed to at least tolerate Starling's presence.

"Why…why did you help me?" She finally asked.

The older woman closed her eyes before replying.

"I did it for my son, not for you," she replied as she opened her eyes.

Starling could see plenty of anger in the older woman's eyes. Anger, along with several other very negative emotions. But at the same time, there was the tiniest flash of something else, something she had never seen from the older woman in all the time she had known her.

Gratitude

"Kai came to me shouting a torrent of pleads and half dragged me to your….home."

Starling flinched.

"When he took me up to your room, he told me that you were very sick and needed help. I told him that if you were sick, you would take care of yourself and that we should leave before catching whatever it was ourselves. But when I tried to pull him away, he broke free of me and clung to you. I tired to remove him, but he wouldn't let go."

Unconsciously, Starling tightened her hold on the young boy.

"When I finally caved in to his request, we wrapped you in your blanket and I carried you here. After a day passed and your condition only worsened, I called the doctor to see what was wrong with you."

The woman's eyes narrowed a bit more than usual.

"How you survived is beyond me. The doctor said you had no chance of surviving that fever and that you would be dead by morning."

Starling's breath hitched at hearing that.

"So don't even think about thanking me. I did this for my son, not you. Understand?"

Starling nodded slowly as she tried to process what she had been told.

"You gave him quite a scare you know. He was awake until the doctor gave him a sedative yesterday afternoon. He kept going on about not going to sleep until after you woke up." Shaking her head, the older woman got up and left the room, muttering to herself about something Starling couldn't quite catch.

Feeling shaken to her core having found out how close she had brushed with actually _dying_, and going through the normal 'post KM' (Kai's Mother) effects, Starling tightened her grip on Kai and drew him even closer, resting his head on her shoulder and holding him as close as she could.

She pushed the thoughts of death and Kai's mother as far out of her mind as she could and focused only on the safe warm feeling of her friends embrace.

End Chapter 9

Not quite sure how this one turned out. I know it's a bit short, but I couldn't really think of anything to add without taking away from the emotional aspect. Future chapters will make things less one-sided and have Starling actually helping Kai a bit more. The reason that it seems like Kai is 'doing all the work' at the moment is that Starling is still a bit confused and unsure of herself as far as what she wants to do in life, while Kai (despite being five years younger) already has a good idea about his 'position' in life.

Hope you enjoyed it, and sorry its taking so long for me to update.

Till next time, Ja Ne!


	10. My Dark Mirror, My Light Reflection

My Dark Mirror, My Light Reflection

This chapter takes place immediately after the events of One Year Flight. So it might contain a spoiler or two, but I doubt anyone will catch them, and if they do it is unlikely they will understand the full scope of the story. This chapter I have feared writing for sometime now, ever since writing The Darkest Day, The Brightest Night actually. You'll understand, just one word of advice, when reading the first few paragraphs, keep your mind out of the gutter, it's as far from that as you can get.

Disclaimer: I do not own Storm Hawks, and never will. They are the property of Asaph "Ace" Fipke and made by Nerd Corps Entertainment, however I DO own Kai, the Shadow crystal and this story.

"Speech"  
"_Thought"  
__Sound_

* * *

She still couldn't believe it. Sure, she had known that he had potential, but what she had seen was far beyond anything she had ever expected. Normally this would have been a source of great joy, after all, how many people could claim to have had a hand in training someone that had managed such a feat. But this was not so for the young woman.

Instead, it brought her nothing but pain, deep emotional pain, guilt beyond that of any before her, and shame greater then any to come after her. She had committed one of the greatest sins imaginable.

She had killed a child.

Not in a literal sense. The boy was still alive, and he was hardly a little kid. He was sixteen now, a legally registered, known, and recognized adult as far as any court in Atmos was concerned. But that still didn't change the fact that what had happened was entirely her fault.

She listened to the quiet sound of his breathing, and watched the gentle, ever so slight rise and fall of his chest proving that he was in fact breathing. But looking over his form, it took everything she had not to cry. His right arm was in a sling, he had binding wrapped around his chest to keep his ribs in place until they could heal, and almost every inch of his body was covered with scratches, bruises, burns, and even a few stitches. But there was one thing that kept running through her mind, the single thought that keep plaguing her.

"_It's all my fault. I did this to him."_ Starling couldn't help but feel an overwhelming sense of guilt as her eyes scanned the broken and battered form of the young boy who she had once called her friend, who stood by her no matter what, who did everything in his power to help her and keep her going, who now lay in the infirmary of the Interceptors HQ on terra Mesa.

She would not cry, she had to be strong. Part of her training as a member of the Special Forces was to suppress emotion, to mask thought and feeling. Though she could feel the wall crumbling, she could feel the tiny chinks and cracks that would take months to fix. She remembered to gall of the Sky Council. Congratulating her not only for his performance, but hers as well.

"_Performance!? What performance!? Helping to beat the life out of a child!?"_ Starling's breathing was becoming labored, it took everything she hold back the wave, to keep anything from escaping. Looking back up at her young ward, she reached out to brush the hair out of his face. _"He looks so different; I can hardly even recognize him."_

Starling remembered the events that had transpired yesterday. She remembered that moment, when Kai came flying out of the dense brush and landed in the opening before her. He was no longer the happy, smiling young boy whom she had known for so many years. His face was a blank mask, showing no emotion, not allowing a single thought to be revealed. When he rose from his crouched position, she could see the muscles that had developed over the course of his year in hiding. While not even close to what one would call 'buff', his frame was no longer that of the same scrawny child, and his arms and legs were no longer sticks. Rather, his slim form was now coated with lithe muscles; his muscles were like liquid steel, coiled into a tight spring and ready to release at a moments notice.

She couldn't help but chuckle as she recalled her friend Suzi-Lu's reaction. It was a simple wolf whistle, followed by an equally wolfish grin.

The most unsettling thing though, had been his eyes. The others had told her that they were now a dull shade of gold, almost like a lizard. But it wasn't until she saw them for herself that she was truly able to understand that it hadn't been the change in color they were talking about.

When he fought, it was like trying to stop a runaway train with your bare hands, or block a monsoon with cloth sails. His eyes never blinked, they showed no emotion, they were simply cold, murky depths that seem to draw a person in to a watery grave. It quickly became apparent that his training had been borderline torture. He didn't seem to tire, even after nearly half an hour of fighting several opponents; he didn't run out of breath, despite running at top speed for almost ten whole minutes.

But the worst part if it all was his resilience.

It nearly pushed her over the edge, both then when it happened, and now just thinking about it. Watching such a small boy, a young child get hit with such ferocity and such power, only to have him shrug it off like he wasn't even hit. To see him get thrown to the ground, and hear the dreaded snap crack, only to see him rise up a second latter completely ignoring broken bones. To see him become completely engulfed in flame, only to see him remove and discard his shirt without stopping for even a second. Blast scores were ignored, cuts and slashes were given as little mind as a gentle breeze, and electrical shocks only affected him until his muscle control returned.

She had killed a child, and created a monster from its ashes.

When they brought him back to the HQ, Starling was a nervous wreck, but it became even worse after they had cleaned him up and put him in the infirmary. She insisted that she work on him alone, and she had. It had taken nearly five hours, but in the end, all his cuts, scrapes, and burns had been cleaned and bandaged. His bones set, and stitches put into place. The entire time she had to fight to keep her focus on the job at hand, and not allow her mind to contemplate the numerous scars that now riddled his back, the markings on his arms, or the half healed wounds that covered his chest and legs. These, she knew had been there long before the fight.

"What did you put yourself through Kai?" Her gaze then came to rest on a single item, she glared at it as though it were the single most foul thing in all of Atmos.

Attached to a gold necklace around his neck, was a black crystal, the Shadow stone. She didn't know how it was attached, she recalled watching Kai remove it from his staff and place it in the small claw like piece that hung from the bottom, but how it was attached, and why it didn't fall out was beyond her.

It was then that she heard it.

_Thump………thump_

_Thump…………………….thump_

_Thump……………thump_

"_What is that? It sounds like a heart beating."_ Looking around for the source of the strange noise, her ears led her back to Kai, or to be more accurate, the crystal around his neck. Looking at it she could see that it seemed to pulsate. Every few seconds a light black pulse of energy would radiate, and then fade away. It was hard to see due to the lack of light, but Starlings eyes were trained for such things. Darkness and shadows was her domain, it was what she was trained for.

She reached down to touch the crystal to see if she could feel anything, but as soon as her hand came within an inch of it she was stopped by a hand grabbing her wrist. Looking down she saw it was Kai, but his eyes were closed and his breathing had not changed. _"He's still asleep. He must have developed his instincts as well."_ She of course knew a way around this; after all, she was the same way.

"Kai, it's me, Starling, don't you remember?" Sure enough his hand let go and fell back to the bed. She knew from experience, that particular reaction was based on two senses. Touch, and sound. The person felt the air currents above them or around them move, or they heard a particular noise. They would respond with a grab, a strike, or by rolling to one side. The trick was that the same principle could be used to disarm it. If a person the individual trusted spoke, they would release the hold, or go back to a relaxed state. _"Well, at least this proves that he still trust me."_ Starling thought bitterly.

"_Foolish hatchling, of course he still trusts you."_

"Who-" Looking around she was unable to find the source of the voice. But in her haste to turn around her hand fell onto the shadow stone and she felt a slight shock, similar to that of a static jolt. "Ouch, what was…that…" Starling found herself looking at…well…herself.

Standing before her was herself, her hand on Kai's chest touching the Shadow crystal. But everything looked, different. For one thing, everything was a light off shade of dark blue.

"It's nice to finally meat you." The voice called out again.

Starling spun around and dropped into a defensive stance, but she was bewildered by the sight before her.

There, standing with a slight smile was herself. At least at first glance it seemed to be.

"Hatchling, you have nothing to fear from me, in fact, you are probably the last person on Atmos that has any reason to fear me." The woman said shaking her head.

"Who said I was afraid?" Starling replied, still in her defensive stance.

"Well, aside from the fact your in a purely defensive stance, I can hear your heartbeat from over here, and I can smell it, your fear, your guilt." After pausing for a moment she continued. "Even your shame."

Starling's eyes widened before shifting to a glare. "How dare you!" She broke into a full out run and was about to strike the look alike, until the woman disappeared from view. It was not in a cloud of smoke, or even a jump, she simply faded.

"This is my realm child. Here you are of no threat to me. In fact you should feel honored." The voice seemed to be echoing from every direction, but unlike a normal echo, this one actually had force to it. Starling felt as if she was standing under a ringing bell.

"Honored!? Honored for what? Who are you? Show yourself!" Starling dropped back into her defensive stance and waited.

"And there you go again. What have I told you child. You are safe here. For me to strike you would be to sign my own death warrant." The voice called out again.

"Show yourself!" Starling shouted, completely ignoring what the strange woman had said.

"Very well. Is this to your liking?" Starling was shocked to hear the voice come from behind.

Turning around she came face to face with herself. However, this time instead of attacking, she took the opportunity to study the other her. The face and body were identical in every way. She was the same height, her shoulders were the same width, also her hair was both the same length and style. She was nearly identical.

Keyword, nearly.

There were some subtle differences however. For instance, her hair was several shades darker, a light purple rather then purplish blue. Also her skin was paler, it almost looked like porcelain. But the biggest difference, were her eyes.

They were the same dull gold color as Kai's.

"Who are you?" Starling asked. She had accepted the fact, that if this woman had meant her any harm, then she would have done so by now.

"I have no name, but in the past, I have been referred to as Rose. You may call me by that name if you so desire." The woman replied.

"Lets cut to the chase, who, or to be more accurate, what are you? Why do you look like me, and why is there another me standing over there?" Starling finished pointing at the third her that was standing motionless above Kai.

"In order, I am the Dragon of Shadow, I am, obviously, a dragon, I look like you because it was the most suitable form to chose from at the time, and as for the other you, that is your body." The woman replied.

"Wait, wait a minute, you're the Dragon of Shadow's? The Darkness Dragon?" Starling asked skeptically.

The woman sighed before answering. "Yes, I am the Dragon of Darkness, but I prefer the title of Dragon of Shadow."

"You don't look like any dragon I've ever seen. How do I know your telling the truth?" Starling asked.

"I don't look like a dragon because I'm not in my true form, I'm borrowing yours. As for my telling the truth, you have few options in the matter, so I would just accept it if I were you." The other answered.

"Why are you, how did you put it? Borrowing my form?" Starling asked. Taking note of every reaction the woman made. So far, she seemed to be telling the truth, that or she was a very good liar.

"I'm borrowing your form for Kai's sake. I needed to take the appearance of someone that he trusted, someone he would listen to. He wouldn't take my true form seriously; well, he wouldn't listen to it anyways." The woman replied in a neutral tone.

"So your tricking him, is that it?" Starlings voice had an edge to it, one that promised pain if she did not like the answer she received.

"No, he is aware that we are not the same individual. I altered it slightly on your behalf. It was your voice that I needed for the most part, I don't communicate directly very often in the manner that we are right now. Rather I pass knowledge and thoughts to him using your voice. To him it seems like memories, or training from you kicking in." The woman was now sitting in a chair, never once had she broken eye contact throughout the conversation.

"And why would you do that?" Starling did not like the answers she was getting. She was convinced that this, Rose, character was a threat. But she was unsure how to respond to it.

"I do so to help him. He is my scion, so why should I let him fail if I know how he could succeed?" The woman asked bluntly.

"So you are the one responsible for what he has become?" Starling's voice was laced with anger, rage, and pure hatred.

"No, not entirely. I made a few…adjustments. But he is the product of himself. He formed himself into what he has become, not I." The woman answered calmly.

Starling's fists were clinching, her teeth were grinding, you could almost see the aura of malice surrounding her.

"LIAR! There is no way that Kai would ever become that…that…that thing I fought yesterday! He's a kind and generous person, he was never even able to perform adequately in safe training, and you expect me to believe that he would do that in real combat!? I know Kai, I-" She was cut off before she was able to continue by the other woman.

"You knew Kai. You no longer know him, you knew him." The woman said getting up and walking towards Starling.

"I KNOW him; Kai would never behave in such a way! He would never attack a person unless in self defense! What I fought was a ruthless, unrelenting creature of pure instinct!" Starling yelled at Rose.

"You would be surprised what one year can do to a person." Rose said coolly.

"One year does not change a kind and innocent person into a full blooded warrior, one year does not make a person into cold blooded fighter, and one year certainly does not make a person-" She was cut off again.

"You? One year does not change a person into what you became? I exist within Kai's being. I have seen his memories, and heard his thoughts. I have seen both the day you embraced, and swore never to change before leaving for your special ops training, and the day you returned, completely ignoring the welcome home party that was thrown for you as though I was there myself. Kai is nothing more then a mirror, if you don't like the reflection you see, then you are the one that has to change it." The woman spoke with a voice that carried absolute authority. No questions could be asked, and none would be tolerated.

Starling however, was in a state of shock. _"Have, have I truly changed so much? Have I become as different from my past self as Kai?"_ Looking up she flinched at the other woman's gaze.

"You are important to him, you still have time. Change the reflection before it becomes a photograph. I can't offer you anymore advice without influencing future events. You're on your own." The woman said with a sad smile.

"You can see the future?" Starling asked more then just slightly unnerved by this new revelation.

"No, I cannot see into the future. That would be the Oracle stone, wrong crystal." The woman said now with a small smile on her face. "What I mean is, there is much that I know, much that I have learned from Kai's memories, and thoughts that I am unable to tell you. It is not my place to do so." As the woman said this everything returned to normal. Everything was no longer a light shade of blue, and the clocks started moving again.

Starling tried to figure out the cryptic clues Rose had left her, but soon gave up. The stress she had battled for the past year, the thoughts that ran threw her mind the past month, what she had been through the past week, and the events of yesterday had finally caught up to her. Setting back down in the bedside chair, she leaned forward, being careful not to wake the boy, and fell asleep. She held his hand tightly in hers, and fell to sleep with only a single thought floating through her mind.

"_Welcome home Kai."_

Her eyes shut, and she soon departed to the realm of dreams. She didn't notice the small smile that now adorned the boys face.

* * *

End Chapter

AN: Not much I know, but this is mostly a teaser for The One Year Flight and how it ends. I haven't given up on the story, just haven't had time to work on it. I hope you enjoyed this little snippit, it connects in more ways than one with the latest chapter of WOC.

Till next time, Ja Ne!


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